


Uncharted Territory

by niente



Series: Uncharted Territory [1]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: M/M, POV 2nd person, Various implied relationships, author's undying love for kanaya maryam and jane crocker courses through this fic's veins, descriptions of violence (nothing too graphic)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-11
Updated: 2015-06-23
Packaged: 2018-04-03 23:50:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 69,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4119121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/niente/pseuds/niente
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After an assassination attempt on Empress Feferi's life and a potential coup, Karkat is sent into hiding. Escaping to the edges of the Empire, Karkat is taken to Skaia. Once a human colony, Skaia is home to misfits of the galaxy. Along with Jane Crocker, an innkeeper, and the crew of the <i> Rogue of Void </i>, Karkat learns that there is more than meets the eye than the stories he's heard of the planet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is secretly an ode to Jane Crocker. Also I throw all of my trash head canons into this at some point or other concerning dynamics between characters. Includes unnecessary and vague allusions to their classes and aspects because why the hell not.
> 
> This is the longest fic I've ever written and I'm pretty proud at how it turned out, even though it was supposed to only be a 10k ramble of Dave and Karkat. I'm in the process of editing the other two parts, so they'll be up as soon as I'm done with that. This was actually supposed to be up much sooner, but I've been recovering from surgery and haven't had much time to work on it.
> 
>  **Edit:** Now with a new summary!

The palace goes into lockdown so fast that you hardly even have time to react. You’re standing in the main corridor on your way to the throne room at the end of it when it happens. Trolls from the entire hemospectrum are milling about, along with some tense looking humans still working on peace talks with Feferi. It’s a typical appearance for the main corridor.

There are lights flashing everywhere and everyone goes wild. The words ‘assassination’ ring out above all else. Your blood runs cold and all you can think about it Feferi lying there dead, barely 12 sweeps old and her hopes and dreams for the Empire lost with her. Your heart clenches painfully and you jump to action, reaching for your sickles –

But you’re not at war anymore. You’re not longer a rebel who, every day, had to fear that your throat might be slit every time you shut your eyes or let your guard down. Your sickles, not the nice polished ceremonial bullshit Eridan pushed on you (which are back in your quarters), have been literally hung up in some hall of fame bullshit. Your hand itches for them and you’re not actually that far from the museum. Breaking the glass keeping your sickles would be amazing and then you could get to Feferi’s side.

“Kar!” Eridan shouts and – shit – his right shoulder is caked in his violet blood.

He’s got that ridiculous rifle, Ahab’s Crosshair, that he found on some FLARP adventure when you were all still on Alternia in his arms. His posture is tense and the injury is forcing him to rely on his left arm. If this were any other time, you’d gripe about how Eridan got to keep his weapon and yours had to be locked up.

“What the fuck is going on – is Feferi okay?” you demand but he ignores you and grabs your shoulder roughly, dragging you into one of the side corridors.

He shoves you along, checking each new hallway with intense caution. You’re becoming more and more aggravated at being shoved around by Eridan – fucking high blood thinks he can just shove you around and get whatever he wants. You rip yourself free once you’ve deemed that Eridan’s taken you to a decently quiet corridor. You don’t feel guilty when Eridan winces in pain.

“What the fuck is going on?” you hiss, repeating yourself. “Where’s Feferi?”

“She’s fine an’ in her typical manner is more concerned with the rest of you than herself. Just a little assassination attempt, that’s all,” he replies, scowling at you. “Whoever orchestrated this wanted Fef an’ the rest of her rebel gang out of the way too.”

You knew this would happen one of these days. A great deal of the high bloods weren’t impressed with Feferi’s ruling style. Dismantling the hemospectrum wasn’t something that fell in high blood favour. You just didn’t think the first attempt would be so large.

“What’s the game plan then?” you demand.

Eridan’s captain of the guard and likely already has something planned, you can see it glinting in his eyes. This was a complex assassination and there are probably a million threads that will need to be dealt with once the palace has been cleared.

“The game plan is to get you the fuck out of here,” Eridan snarls back at you. “You’re the fuckin’ voice of the lowbloods, Vantas, that has made you a pretty big target. Your face was literally on all the rebel propaganda right beside Fef’s – you’re not conspicuous.”

“I can stay and fight,” you protest, pissed off and annoyed that you’re again be relegated to the back of the battle.

This has always been the reason. You’ve got guards on you almost all the time now. You missed the rebellion days when, if you died, it meant you’d be a martyr and only strengthen the cause. Your death now would mean the loss of a very important voice on Feferi’s council and thus low blood unrest.

“We’re not arguin’ here, Kar. You’re gettin’ the fuck out an’ when all this shit’s clear you can come back,” Eridan says and grimaces because he’s still fucking bleeding. “We need to get to the private docks. Fef’s already gone along with a couple others. If you wait any longer, you’re goin’ be stuck here with the rest of us.”

“Who?” you grit out. “Who’s staying and who’s going?”

You have a pretty good idea of who will get to stay and fight for Feferi and who is forced into hiding.

“Kan, Fef, an’ yourself,” he tells you and it feels like a punch to the chest. “Everyone else is staying.”

The three whose deaths would probably impact the Empire the most – send it crumbling back to when the race was still on Beforus.

“Like hell Vriska isn’t big enough to be conspicuous,” you hiss.

“Yeah but her death could bring unity not complete anarchy,” he snaps. “Now get to the docks, this corridor leads straight there.”

“What about you?” you question, eyes darting to his shoulder.

Eridan smirks at you and, Gl’bgolyb, you hate it when he does that.

“Aw are you worried about me, Kar?” he teases.

“Fuck no, you’re a creepy prick,” you reply hotly. “But you are the Empress’ morail, so if you die I’m going to head to the afterlife and kill you again.”

You expect a quip about waxing black for him and already have a sharp response on your tongue. But Eridan just adjusts that eyesore of a weapon of his and looks at you seriously.

“I have no plans on dying, Kar. Now get out of here.”

“Good,” you reply and when Eridan nods you know he understood your underlying message.

_‘Stay safe.’_

You run down the empty corridor and arrive at the docks. There’s one pod remaining and you leap inside, the door hissing shut behind you. The pilot, surprisingly a human, gives you a thumbs up and you nod in response. The pod jettisons out of the launch bay, leaving your home behind.

Gasping when you see the smoke billowing out of the west wing, you wonder how many innocent lives were killed in the explosion. You tear yourself away after watching it for a few minutes. The image of the crumbling palace is already burned into your mind. That will cause you nightmares for sweeps to come.

Facing the front of the pod, you stare into the blank abyss of space ahead of you. You’re familiar with this ship; it’s a stealth class transport vessel designed for getting in and out of ports undetected. Sollux designed them to infiltrate the palace during the rebellion. You know how to pilot on yourself and had assumed, since Sollux flat out told you, that it would be impossible to pilot by humans.

You crawl out of the cramped backspace and into the navigator’s seat. How the fuck did you get four others in here before? The pilot spares you a brief glance since you’re still within the gravitational pull of the moon the palace is located on. Alternia is visible just below you, huge and hulking in the distance. You miss it a lot. You miss your lusus and your old hive. You miss when you were just a bunch of kids playing a game of rebellion instead of a bunch of kids at the end of an actual one. But Alternia is still for raising the young – Feferi has yet to decide if it would be best to reintegrate adults to the planet.

(All of you were forced out too soon and you know she misses it too. But she has nothing to go back to ever since the Condesce killed their shared lusus. It’s cold, but you understand Feferi’s reasoning for not wanting to return.)

The dials of the pod are stable and nothing has started to screech yet. The human pilot knows what they’re doing it seems. The image of the palace burning is etched into your mind and it’s only amplified by the silence in the pod.

Finally, after several tense moments and you see the dial go down signifying that the pod is no longer at risk of being dragged into the moon, the pilot slips up his visor.

“Wow that certainly was a doozy,” he sighs and fucking grins at you, pulling his hands off the steering consol and wiping his forehead. 

You don’t say anything back to him. He’s got thick black hair and dark green eyes. Somehow he’s got freckles standing out on his brown skin. You briefly wonder if he’s from Earth, since there are no stars strong enough out here to give humans a freckled appearance. Other humans in the Empire live in the synthetic lights of space stations.

“Name’s Jake English and I’m the best damn pilot you’ll find on this side of Empire space,” he announces a little too eagerly, holding his gloved hand out to you.

You’re a dignitary and council member and despite your easily irate nature, you have fucking manners and understand human cultural norms. You take his hand and give it a firm shake, which causes him to grin back at you. However you also know the rules of laying low and don’t give him your name in return.

“Where are you taking me?” you question and skim over the star map where no point has been marked.

“A little place I like to call home,” he tells you cheerfully. “And you won’t find it on any Empire sanctioned maps since thanks to a little deal with your Empress, it’s to be completely left alone by the Empire.”

He reaches over and taps a few commands into the navigational unit and the star map does this little dance. Suddenly a bright red blip appears off in the corner of the map. You wrinkle your nose slightly, it’s on the edge of wild space, which is pretty much the worst place for any good Empire citizen to be. Wild space is the rough, lawless area that the Empire has deemed ‘unsavoury’ and not worth conquering. Other than the Human Sovereignty, it’s the rest of the galaxy.

“Skaia,” Jake says, as if it’s the most magical place in the entire galaxy.

“I’ve heard of it,” you reply hotly. “It’s one of the biggest trafficking outposts for illegal goods in the Empire.”

“Not in the Empire,” Jake corrects and you hear a bit of pride in his voice.

So for all his initial friendliness, he still has something against trolls.

“What are you doing here then?” you question curiously because it’s not even remotely close to normal for a human to be working in the palace. It's even less so for a human to be a member of the Imperial Fleet. Jake is low ranking but he’s still a pilot for the Empire nonetheless.

“I was hired on as a pilot after I broke into the monstrosity they built to replace Prospit to see these babies fly. Said something about having a more human staff to broker peace,” Jake replies casually as if he’s not the only human who can pilot a ship Sollux designed specifically so a human couldn’t pilot it.

You go quiet again, playing with the star map. You wonder where Feferi and Kanaya are being taken to. It gnaws at your stomach that your moirail is going somewhere you don’t know. You don’t even know if she’s safe or uninjured – she doesn’t even know if the same is true about you either.  Even though you can’t talk to her, knowing Kanaya is safe would help you rest a lot easier. 

“I know we’re being secretive and all, but I don’t suppose you could give me something to call you?” Jake questions and you give him a side-glance to see that he’s almost overflowing with curiosity.

“K,” you say after some pause.

It’s short, it’s sweet, and you think it’s pretty lame, actually. You can practically hear Terezi cackling at you from the palace – if she’s still alive.

“Sound a bit like a secret agent there,” Jake replies and he’s still grinning. “Something straight out of James Bond.”

“So what happens when we reach Skaia?” you question, ignoring Jake’s reference mostly because you don’t understand it.

“Got a contact there who will take you in and keep it all under wraps until I’m given the go ahead to bring you back,” Jake explains.

“Why are you helping?” you ask, a little more harshly than intended.

“That’s a question for another day,” Jake answers and returns his gaze to the vast expanse of space.

Neither of you speak for the rest of the trip.

* * *

Skaia is an interesting shamble of buildings, leaning precariously on each other. Each home has been rebuilt on the foundations of the rubble of another. You think that if you were to knock down a single building, the entire colony would collapse upon itself.

Jake lands the pod in a port that looks like it has seen better days. The ships there are all built from scraps and look like a good kick would turn them into a scrap heap again. Looking out the windows, you can see dozens of creatures scurrying around, it’s mostly humans with a good mix of carapacians but you catch a troll – probably a low blood – and a few pockets of other aliens. You’ve never seen this kind of interspecies jamboree before.

The sun has set and the colony is covered by artificial light. The station that replaced Prospit bears down on the colony like a large, ugly moon. Skaia’s own moon is tiny in comparison, a sliver of light in the dark sky. The streets are bustling with movement and lanterns light the jagged streets.

There is a woman waiting as you disembark from the pod. Jake embraces her tightly and they have a discussion in a tongue you don’t understand. It is probably a language from Earth or a developed dialect of Skaia. The Empire has an Alternian standard that everyone speaks but Feferi made you learn the common human tongue after the rebellion was over, since peace with the humans was a priority.

“Here,” the woman says, and she tosses a thick brown cloak over your shoulders.

You tug the hood over your head and hunch slightly. You’ve never felt more like your ancestor in your entire life – not even when you were preaching about a better life during the rebellion. The cloak smells musty, but warm, and with a hint of something you can’t quite place. The scent is all over the woman as well.

You’re thankful for the cloak since you’re still swathed in the black robes, lined with gray, that you wear at the palace. One would normally have their blood colour on display, but gray has been your colour longer than it’s been safe to be a mutant. Although you no longer have to fear being culled, a fear that haunted over you every day when you were growing up on Alternia since mutants had no place in the Empire, the prejudice still remains. Feferi also allowed you into the mating pool, but no one wants a candy red-blooded mutant as their kismesis or matesprit.

It’s also luck that today is the day that you wore the eye covers Sollux made for you many sweeps ago. Before you had plans for the rebellion, your friends were desperate to keep you alive well into adulthood. If the rebellion hadn’t happened and somehow you had slipped past the culling, you probably would have ended up on a planet like Skaia.

“Thank you,” you say curtly, realizing that you’ve spent too much time being introspective.

“Jane,” she greets.

“K,” you reply.

“No one else will know you’re here. Only Jake and I,” she murmurs quietly. “No one asks questions about your history on Skaia anyway.”

You nod.

“Come on, I’ll get you settled in,” Jane replies and turns away.

“I need to do some checks on the ship,” Jake tells you. “I’ll catch you tomorrow, mate.”

You take that dismissal and hurry to follow Jane. The people of Skaia are dressed in well worn clothing that has been patched back together again and again, often using different fabrics to fill holes. Faces are weary but joyful, life on Skaia is good it seems. You thought, that since the colony had suffered heavily during the Troll-Human war, the inhabitants might be heavy hearted and glum. Instead there’s laughter and bright faces, despite the exhaustion from having such a hard existence.

The hustle and bustle and general atmosphere reminds you of the rebel camp you lead many sweeps ago. Spirits were always bright, except for maybe yours, despite the constant threat of complete elimination. The hard worked people and clothing and shamble of structures remind you of the camp and its inhabitants too. Your heart clenches when the thoughts of the rebellion lead you to the thoughts of your friends still at the palace.

Jane leads you through the winding streets and seems to enjoy your open curiosity. No one else notices, which is good. The less attention drawn to you, the better. The road she’s been following leads to a square, where a single tree grows at the center. Its trunk is gnarled and curved while its branches reach out and fill the entire square. It’s covered in pink flowers. You reach out and touch the flowers with your fingers. Alternia has pink trees like this too.

“The Last Tree from Prospit,” Jane explains. “During the exodus, someone managed to bring it with them. We’ve been collecting seeds and planting them on the outskirts of the city, in hopes of bringing some life back to Skaia. The war wasn’t kind to the flora here.”

“A noble cause,” you agree.

Jane walks around the tree and you find yourself standing in front of a fairly nice building. It certainly stands out from the rest of the shambling shacks. It’s covered in a mural of Prospitians and gold buildings in homage to the lost home. A sign proudly announces the building as ‘Crocker’s Inn.’

“This yours?” you ask.

“All mine,” she agrees. “Built it up with my own two hands. Well – there was some help from my friends but they’re more about space ships and scrap yards than my old inn.”

“Who painted the mural?” you question.

“Dave did, if you’re here long enough you might meet him. The crew he’s part of is out running an errand in wild space,” Jane explains and pulls the inn door open.

It smells warm and cozy. The inn is the origin of the smell that both the cloak and Jane carry. The scent mostly likely belongs to the food made here or the soap used to wash the laundry. Either way, it's a scent meant to welcome and warm visitors. You find it slightly intoxicating.

“I’ve prepped a room on the second floor for you,” Jane says, heading through the main room, which has several tables set up and a long bar on the other end. “If you need anything from me, I’ll be through the door on the right.”

Jane gestures to a door behind the bar and to the right. You assume that’s her living quarters, probably also containing a kitchen and a laundry room. She moves around the tables with practiced ease and to the stairs tucked to the left. You follow closely behind her. They creak under your weight and some of the panels rattle with each step. Soon after arriving on the next floor, filled with rooms for patrons,  Jane stops in front of one the shut doors.

“Here we are,” Jane announces and pulls a key from her pocket.

She hands it to you and you’re quick to open the door. You need a nap.

“I know Trolls don’t generally use beds, but sopor isn’t something one can buy on Skaia,” Jane replies apologetically.

“It’s fine, you’ve done enough already,” you reply, pushing the door open.

“There’s clothes for you to wear in the dresser, so you’re not in your robes all the time. And I tried to put the communicator on the Empire channels but there’s something blocking it,” Jane explains while you take in the room.

The room is tiny, with a window overlooking the square. There’s a bed crammed into the corner by the window and a dresser tucked on the perpendicular wall. A desk with an old communicator sits on the wall with the door. It’s nothing like your quarters at the palace but it reminds you of your hive back on Alternia, cluttered and cramped.

“The channels close in a state of emergency,” you reply and move to the bed. “Thank you, I will repay you for this someday.”

“It’s fine,” Jane tells you, waving her hand dismissively. “The Empress and I have had this deal worked out for sometime.”

You furrow your brow in confusion. You didn’t know Feferi had connections on Skaia. It's not really like her to be so closely involved in such a distant planet's affairs. Particularly one with a reputation like Skaia.  

“Ah,” you reply quietly.

Jane hangs in the doorway a bit longer, watching as you sit on the bed and take in the room. After some time, you begin to feel uncomfortable with her watching so you clear your throat.

“Oh!” she exclaims and her face turns slightly pink. “I’ll leave you be. If you need anything, I’m not far. I could make something for you to eat – you just missed dinner.”

“I’m fine,” you tell her, gritting your teeth. “Really.”

“Alright,” she swallows and leaves you alone, shutting the door behind her.

You lean back onto the bed really wishing you had sopor to slide into. The images plaguing your mind are going to be unbearable and have already nestled next to the harshest memories of the rebellion. Eridan’s pained expression as you turned away from him haunts you. Since the channels aren’t working, you know that this is big. It’ll be long time before you’re back at the palace and have something to help keep the nightmares at bay.

Shutting your eyes, you try to push the memories and thoughts away. Leaving your friends behind is really difficult to process. It isn’t in Troll nature to flee from a battle. Although you don’t have the thirst for violence like others, you’ve still be socialized to never back down from a challenge.

Feferi and Kanaya are probably feeling similar, if not the same. Both are incredibly proud and unwavering. You can only imagine what turmoil they are going through knowing that trolls are dying for them while they are in hiding.

Being separated from Kanaya and knowing Eridan is back at the palace, fighting, is one of the hardest things to process. During the rebellion, the three of you had been a team. Originally it had just been you and Kanaya for your regiment but no one could put up with Eridan like the two of you. Younger Eridan had been nigh unbearable; he’s mellowed considerably but still holds some of his young angst and flirts with his former irritating traits. Despite your differences, the three of you were a team and now you are all scattered across the galaxy – unknowing of each other’s fates.

Eventually, you drift off to sleep thinking about the fates of your friends and if they are sleeping tonight or if their lives have already ended.

* * *

 

The next morning you wake up still tired and incredibly hungry. Your muscles are tight from spending most of the day traveling in Jake's pod. The Skaian sun flutters through the window and you’re pleased to find it far less intense than the Alternian sun. Kanaya brought you out into the sun when you were younger and although you enjoyed the warmth on your skin, it often became unbearable quickly. The Skaian sun also gives you less risk of going blind if you are to look at it.

You pull off your robes and shove them to the very back of the dresser. They smell of your quarters back home and bring up too many memories. The clothes Jane provided fit decently, but are far too loose on your frame in several places. Thankfully, nothing is too tight. A simple shirt and pants to help you blend in with the Skaian population. It helps the clothes are gray as well, your colour.

There isn’t anyone else downstairs when you arrive, other than Jane and Jake. Jane is on the opposite side of the bar, going through what appears to be a ledger while Jake fiddles with his hands. The two seem to be in a quiet argument. You hear the name ‘Dirk’ thrown around quite a bit before you make you presence known.

“K!” they say in unison, giving you tense smiles.

“Good morning,” you say curtly and move across the room to sit next to Jake at the bar.

“I’ll get you something to eat.” Jane excuses herself and heads through the side door she pointed out the previous evening.

“Is there anyone else here?” you inquire.

“People arrive late at night and leave early in the morning,” Jake replies easily. “For your stay it’ll probably be just you and Jane, until everyone else comes back.”

“Everyone else? More people live here with Jane?”

Jake gestures towards the door that Jane went through.

“Leads to the neighbouring house. Houses all the utilities for the inn and living quarters for Jane and our friends when they’re planet side.”

“Bandits?” you question curiously. “Jane mentioned something about wild space.”

“You could say they're somewhat of space Robin Hoods, stealing from the rich and giving to the poor,” Jake says. “But bandit fits as well.”

You don’t tell Jake that you don’t know who Robin Hood is. Maybe you’ll look it up one day.

“I’ll be returning back to Empire space tomorrow,” Jake tells you.

“So?” you reply, voice coming out harsher than intended.

“I’ll be in contact with the other pilots who moved the Empress and the other troll. Do you have any messages you’d like to pass on?” Jake asks.

You could contact Kanaya. You could let her know you’re alive and find out if she’s alive in turn.

“Yes, I do,” you reply curtly.

“I’ll be around until tomorrow morning, bring it to me any time today. I’m going to be spending most of the day helping Jane around the inn,” he tells you.

Jane returns and sets a bowl of a lumpy substance in front of you. It steams pleasantly and smells delicious. You spent too many sweeps alternating between nothing and dried rations. You don’t take any food for granted anymore. Jane laughs when you dive right, nearly inhaling the meal. Jake and Jane return to having a quiet conversation while you eat.

“Do you have any paper?” you question when you’re finished.

Jane hums in affirmation as she takes the bowl from you. She exits the main room again, leaving you with Jake.

“How long have you known Jane?” you ask him.

“Nearly my entire life,” Jake says. “She’s the glue that holds together the little family we’ve made for ourselves here. Unfortunately, I’ve gone and mucked that all up. Jane’s doing her best to keep the others together while I go gallivanting in Empire space. They want to blast out there, tie me up, and drag me back here.  Never safe for a chap like me in the Empire.”

“I know that feeling,” you mumble.

Jake looks at you with an expression of curiosity.

“I’m a mutant blood. One of kind. Mutants and trolls with genetic undesirability were culled the moment they are consider adults by the Empire,” you explain. “Even under the new leadership and changes, I’m still looked down upon by most of the hemospectrum.”

“Well Skaia is home for misfits and outcasts, I’m sure you’ll find you’re less likely to be judged for your eccentricities,” Jake replies. “I was born on Prospit and there is still a great deal of people who’d see me dead for it.”

“And you have to look at that eyesore every day you’re on Skaia,” you hiss.

Jake nods solemnly.

“Jane and the others are better about it. I can’t really stomach the thought of knowing that my home was once up there. Jane was too young to remember and Jake and John were born on Skaia, but I still remember arriving on Skaia and looking up at the sky to see Prospit in its last moments. The others don’t really get why I can’t spend too much time here.”

Jane returns with a paper and a writing instrument after that. You hate that you have to rely on her so much. You’re a troll and have been raised from birth to mostly take care of yourself.

“Thanks,” you say when she hands it to you.

“What are you using them for?” she inquires politely.

“Jake says he can get a message to my moirail,” you reply.

“That’s good,” Jane replies and you don’t miss the look she gives Jake.

She doesn’t like that he’s leaving.

“You’ll be back for the festival?” she questions.

“Of course, I have a duty to the people,” Jake tells her, puffing out his chest like he’s some big deal.

 Jane rolls her eyes.

“Jane,” you say to draw her attention. “I know that you said you had a deal for payment worked out, but I feel like I’m taking advantage of you.”

“I’m an inn owner, K, it’s my job,” she points out.

“Maybe I could help around a bit, it’s a big place,” you counter.

“I thought you might want to look around Skaia,” Jane says, genuinely surprised that you’re offering to help her.

“I’d rather not,” you reply, grimacing. “I’d spend too much time in my head – thinking about home. Some hard labour would help distract me. Besides, trolls like me aren’t meant to be lavished and live in luxury. I’ve always worked for everything.”

“I suppose you have,” Jane says thoughtfully and you know she’s going to reject your offer.

“Jane, cut the fellow some slack,” Jake interrupts.  “I know for a fact you work yourself silly everyday keeping this place in check by yourself. Give the good troll a job to earn his keep. It won’t hurt you to have some help.”

Jane scowls at Jake but agrees to allow you to help.

“What can you do?” she asks.

“I designed a house when I was barely a sweep old, I can do whatever you tell me to do,” you reply haughtily, crossing your arms defiantly. “I may be a dignitary but I was still raised on Alternia.”

You don’t mention the part where you lived and breathed a rebellion for a sweep and a half. That was all labour and taking care of yourself and hundreds of other rebels.

“Alright, I’ll teach you how things work around here,” Jane replies.

“Just let me write this letter first,” you tell her and stare down at the blank paper.

Jane and Jake start their own conversation, leaving you to your writing. They’re speaking again in the language you can’t understand and from the tone of their voices, you judge it’s more of an argument. Jane really doesn’t like Jake leaving and avoiding the others that you’ve heard of. It's likely something to do with that.

You tap your writing utensil on the paper – it’s a light blue ink and all sorts of wrong. What the fuck are you even going to write to Kanaya? You can say you're safe, but that will hardly placate her. Kanaya won’t stop worrying about you until she sees you in one piece with her own eyes. You feel a very similar way, but you don’t have the same instincts that Kanaya has and a simple message can placate as well as a good shoosh and pap.

You have to be careful, in case the message is intercepted. You can write the message in the special code you, Kanaya, and Eridan perfected during the rebellion. It worked well when the three of you were separated and knew each message was a dangerous risk of getting someone caught. The modified Alternian quickly became a special thing between you and Kanaya when passing notes in boring council meetings (however, Feferi starting bringing Eridan along to intercept them forcing the two of you to stop).

Finally, you settle on a simple message. It just informs Kanaya that you are safe and well cared for. You briefly consider writing down your deeper worries, as Kanaya will definitely want to know them at some point. It will pain her, however, knowing that she is unable to comfort you from such a distance. The feelings are mutual.

“Here,” you say, folding the paper and sliding it over to Jake. “Not to the Empress, the other troll. The Jade Blood.”

“That was quick, I thought you might want to write an essay,” Jake says with surprise but takes the paper.

“I don’t want to worry her,” you tell him. “Too much information and there is nothing that will stop her from getting to me.”

“You said she was your moirail?” Jane questions curiously.

“What do you know of the quadrants?” it comes off ruder than intended but you’re actually quite interested.

“I haven’t always been an inn owner,” Jane replies. “I use to be a captain of one of the best ships wild space has ever seen. Worked with a troll or two during the Rebellion – no one wanted HIC gone as much as the people of Skaia. I’m retired now. Skaia needs me here more than it needs me out there.”

You look at Jane with a bit of awe. She is an incredibly fascinating human.

* * *

 

Although you know how to do most things, Jane still takes the time to explicitly explain how she runs the inn. She outright refuses to let you cook, which you easily allow her to do. Troll cooking is so vastly different to human food; you imagine it would not sit well with most guests coming through Skaia. Jane gives you responsibilities taking care of the garden and doing laundry. In a wise move, she doesn’t put you on guest duty often – Jane understands your nature very quickly.

Jake leaves the next morning, heading back to the Empire. He promises to bring news back upon his return, but you know the likelihood of him learning anything is very poor. When something bad happens, the entire Empire shuts down. Nothing gets in or out since it’ll make the Empire vulnerable to its multitude of enemies.

The next few days are spent working by Jane’s side in the inn. The work during the day manages to distract you enough and exhaust you to a degree that you fall asleep without thinking too much about your friends. However, nightmares still occur frequently but that’s just the result of not having any sopor to sleep in.

It’s a quaint existence that you’ve never really known. First, you competed to survive and earn a lusus. Then you lived in fear of your mutant blood, knowing with everyday you got closer to adulthood and your death. Third, you were part of rebellion that had you working every single day, often against unknown challenges. Lastly, life at the palace had you working to restore the Empire surrounded by the unnecessary wealth and luxury Feferi was slowly getting rid of to compensate for the rebellion and the war.

Living in a constant rhythm everyday wasn’t something you really knew. Every night, you’d find yourself tucked into Jane’s side house while she explained life on Skaia and you shared troll culture. Even though worry gnawed at your mind, you couldn’t help but find yourself enjoying your time on Skaia.

Until the others Jake and Jane spoke of finally returned home.

You’re standing behind the bar, flipping through a book Jane let borrow for when you had nothing to do. She’s currently out, purchasing some provisions for the inn. A Dersite wrapped in a dirty sheet comes barreling into through the front doors. The Dersite’s arms are waving wildly and although you can't see their mouth, you can see obvious joy in their single visible eye.

“Can I help you?” you question trying to be polite because Jane will allow you to be rude to humans and most other species – just not the Carapacians.

The answer is given to you when the door is kicked open and someone announces:

“The Prince has returned!”

You have a brief moment where you’re about to leap to the offensive and look around for a weapon. Unfortunately Jane hasn’t told you where she’s hidden them yet. However, when six humans enter through the door, you force yourself to relax. They don’t immediately notice you, far too busy bickering amongst themselves.

“I told you to cut that out, Rox,” one of them says, glaring at the woman who entered the door and mostly likely was the one to kick the door open.

“Can’t hide the truth,” she singsongs. “Hey Janey, what’s – what the fuck.”

The woman freezes and stares at you. The others slowly pull themselves out of their own discussions and stare at you as well. You can feel your eyes twitch in vague annoyance. Of course these humans would have issues with a troll. Of course Jane didn’t tell them that you were here because why would she? You’re K, just a regular traveler.

“What the fuck did you do to Janey?” the woman demands and she’s reaching for the rifle strapped to her back.

Now you’re really glad Jane didn’t tell you where she hides the weapons, since you’re first instinct is to fight. But that wouldn’t really help your case. The rest of the humans are slowly pulling out their own weapons. You put your hands up in defense.

“She’s out at the market,” you reply and it comes out far angrier than you wanted.

Kanaya would be face palming if she were here. How the fuck are you even a dignitary if you can’t even pretend to be non-hostile?

“Bullshit,” the woman mutters and her rifles out and pointing at you. “I’m going to ask you again, what did you do with Janey?”

You roll your eyes. The woman cocks the gun. You meet the eyes of the other five. Two of them are wearing ridiculous sunglasses (seriously, the sun isn’t even that strong here) so you can’t read them. While one, a blonde female, has an incredibly calm and blank face. The remaining two, who remind you of Jake and Jane, look incredibly pissed off.

“Look, I ran out of money and I’m working to earn my keep,” you lie through clenched teeth.

“Jane would rather let someone stay here for free than accept help,” the woman counters.

You mentally curse because from what you know from Jane, that’s what she would do.

The side door bursts open and all seven of you whip around to see Jane and a tiny robotic rabbit. Jane’s face is flushed and she’s panting, probably having run from the market. But the other humans don’t seem to put that together.

“Good job, Seb,” the woman congratulates the tiny rabbit. “Freeing Jane from whatever trap this troll had you in.”

“Roxy put your gun away. Everyone, it’s all good. K’s a friend,” Jane explains, moving to stand between you and the other humans. “Lil’ Seb was just retrieving me from the market when he saw that you were probably going to shoot K.”

They are all reluctant to put their weapons away. The male who had been arguing with Roxy earlier sheathes his sword first and kicks the other male with sunglasses to do the same.

“This is K, he ran out of money and felt bad for taking advantage of my generosity, so I’m letting him help out for the duration of his stay,” Jane explains. “K this is the crew of the _Rogue of Void_ – I told you I was the captain of a ship before, well this is my former crew. Roxy’s the captain now.”

Roxy marches forward and leans over the bar, looking you over with suspicious eyes. After a few tense moments, she laughs and claps you on the back.

“Welcome to Skaia, K! If Jane says you’re cool, you’re cool with me,” she announces. “Sorry about the gun thing, but I haven’t exactly had the best experiences with trolls.”

“I was part of the rebellion, I get it,” you tell her, grimacing. “And I’m a low blood. I wouldn’t exactly hesitate to attack another Troll either.”

“I like you,” Roxy says and you’re confused because you didn’t actually do anything.

“The others are John, Jade, Rosie, Dirk, and the asshole who still hasn’t put away his weapon is Dave,” Roxy introduces.

“Please just call me Rose,” Rose says tightly, crossing her arms. “I do not understand why Roxy continues to try and keep a name that was given to me in my youth.”

Roxy purses her lips and Rose just stares back at her, clearly challenging her. They look very much alike, so you assume they must be related. Familial relationships that the humans have are still something that you do not quite get, so you just ignore them.

“I have work to do. The _Rogue’s_ stealth system needs an upgrade before we take off again. I’m glad this all a misunderstanding and Jane isn’t really being held hostage by a troll,” Dirk announces and walks up Jane, presses a kiss to her cheek before disappearing through the door to the side house.

“He’s in a mood,” Jane comments.

“I think he was hoping Jake would be here,” Roxy murmurs.

“He was here last week,” Jane replies. “He says he’ll be back for the festival.”

“He better be or I’m taking the risk and flying to the Empress’ palace to get him,” Roxy says. “But I’m exhausted as well, Janey. Love to talk about the trip but I’d like a shower with real water first.”

Roxy too gives Jane a quick kiss on the cheek before heading off to the side house. The four others have settled themselves into one of the tables. Dave is directly facing you and despite his shades, you can tell he’s staring at you.

“Well I need to finish my errands,” Jane says to you. “I’ll be back in a bit, you still got this?”

You nod.

“What’s with the tiny robot?” you ask, gesturing the robot dancing at Jane’s feet.

“Oh that’s Lil’ Sebastian. Dirk made him for me when I retired as captain so I could have someone else to watch my back. He’s pretty useful for informing me when the crew is making a ruckus,” Jane explains.

“And the Carapacian?” you ask since he’s now pulling a seat up at the table with the humans.

“The mayor,” Dave cuts in. “He’s cool.”

“He united the Dersites and Prospitians so they could live on Skaia in peace,” Jane adds. “He’s a pretty good friend to everyone here. Let’s me know when everyone gets back because he’s always watching the skies.”

You don’t say anything and meet Dave’s gaze. Jane takes that as a goodbye and walks past the table, pulling John and Jade into tight hugs before disappearing. The moment the door closes, they all turn to you.

“So what brings you to Skaia?” John asks, more curious than anything. “Trolls don’t come here very often.”

“I was suddenly no longer welcome in the Empire,” you reply coolly. “I thought it was common courtesy on Skaia to not ask where someone was from.”

“That doesn’t really extend to trolls,” Dave says.

Rose elbows him harshly.

“Excuse him, he doesn’t exactly have the best manners. You’ll have to excuse our curiosity as well since most trolls who come to Skaia do so because they did something illegal. The Empire can’t really touch them here without breaching the pact made with the Sovereignty,” Rose says. “But yes we tend to ask Trolls much more, albeit in a bit more polite manner.”

“Talk much, Lalonde,” Dave mumbles and she glares at him.

“I’m not a criminal,” you snap.

“Perhaps we should let K have his secrets. Skaia is meant to be a safe haven,” Jade suggests.

“What colour is your blood?” John blurts. “Don’t most trolls wear their colours?”

“That’s a pretty rude question,” you reply hotly.

“Sorry!” John exclaims and he appears to be pretty honest about it. “Can I ask about your symbol?”

“Not unless I want the troll authorities down on me,” you grumble, rolling your eyes.

Your symbol is that of the Sufferer and the moment that gets out, even some humans from Skaia are bound to know who you are. It’s unique and absolutely one of kind – specially prepared for the one who would have the same blood colour as the Sufferer.

“That would be breaking the truce agreement,” Rose points out.

“The trolls after me would rather go back to war,” you says, shrugging.

“We wouldn’t want that,” John murmurs. “Is there anything you can tell us about, K?”

“No.”

The four go back to keeping to themselves and Dave finally stops staring at you to have a silent conversation with the Mayor. You get back to your book.

“Are you against the Empress?” Jade asks after a short time. “Is that why you fled the Empire? You said you were part of the rebellion.”

“I also said I was a low blood,” you remind her. “I’d have to have a death wish if I was against the rebellion.”

“And yet you’re fine with having another Empress,” Dave says, raising a brow. “I thought the purpose of a rebellion was to change the type of government, not continue it.”

“You’re not familiar with troll government are you? Every so often, there is a single fuchsia blooded heiress born who will grow up and eventually challenge the current Empress. Fef -,” you stop yourself and force yourself to remember that you’re no longer Karkat. You’re K. “The current Empress, challenged the former Empress in the form of a rebellion. Anyway, would it do good to lose complete governance of the Empire? If we lost the government, the entire Empire would be vulnerable. If we want to rebuild, we need the Empress’ leadership for some time.”

“Interesting take,” Dirk says from the side and he’s regarding you with a great deal of suspicion. “Many would disagree that, as a fuchsia blood, the current Empress is still at much risk of becoming like her predecessor. She’s young and naïve right now. A fuchsia blood lives for a long time.”

You grit your teeth in annoyance. You want to defend Feferi further, talking about Gl’bgolyb’s prophecy before her death but that would give far too much away. And you’ve already given the humans too many details on what you’re doing in Skaia. You want to talk about the low bloods and their faith in Feferi and defend your friend. But you can’t. And you hate it.

“Perhaps,” you concede, scowling deeply. “Only time will tell.”

“Where did Jane go? I need her opinion on something,” Dirk asks and the question is directed at you.

“Back to the market, she wasn’t finished when she ran back here,” you tell him.

Dirk nods.

“Dave, you’re the next best thing, come and give me your opinion on whether or not this upgrade would work in the _Rogue_ ,” Dirk says.

“Come on, bro, I was really hoping to spend some time in Can Town,” Dave complains but he’s standing anyway.

“The mayor is over four hundred years old, he can wait 20 minutes,” Dirk counters before the two disappear behind the door.

“Sorry about Dave,” Rose says almost immediately. “You must understand that it’s hard for the people of Skaia to trust trolls.”

“If you give him some time, he’ll come around,” Jade adds.

“I’m not really the patient type,” you grumble.

Jade laughs at this and thankfully their curiosity has been sated for now.  The three of them start their own conversation and let you go back to reading your book in peace.

* * *

 

With the others back, the inn is much livelier. At any given time, you’ll find any two of them arguing over something unimportant or huddled over some project. You had hoped they would keep to the side house – since their living quarters were contained there. But the inn was just as much their home and they spent as much time in the main room as they did in the side house.

Jane forces you to continue taking meals with her in the side house, despite you wanting to avoid the others. You don’t mind Jade and John that much, though they can be a bit overbearing at times. You’re a bit nervous around Roxy, since if you do anything to upset Jane you’d probably end up with the barrel of her rifle against your forehead. Dirk and Dave are the two you don’t trust at all. They’re always watching you when you find yourself in the same room as them. Dirk is much more subtle about it but it’s plain to see he’s suspicious as to why you’re actually here. Dave, on the other hand, radiates hostility towards you for just being a troll.

A meal in the side house with the eight of you is an event. There is almost always a verbal fight over something and it’s not out of place for a physical altercation to break out. However, this keeps the attention off of you. You try to keep to yourself, eat your meal, and often help Jane clean up.

“So I was standing in the middle of the market place and out of nowhere Roxy comes tearing out of a shop run by some very irate species of alien,” John begins.

“No,” Jane cuts in. “I don’t want to know how that story ends. I’ve spent enough time with Roxy to know exactly what went down in that shop.”

“Jane, it’s not as bad as you think,” Dirk says and you can’t tell if he’s being facetious. “She only ripped the alien off about 200 credits.”

“Because that’s so much better,” you mutter under your breath.

Jade giggles at that, covering her mouth. You like Jade, even though she laughs when you’re not being funny.

“What did you say about me?” Roxy calls from the other end of the table.

“Nothing,” you reply, and decide Fuck It, you're going to go for gold tonight. “I was thinking that for a captain of a ship named after a type of thief – you’re not very subtle.”

Roxy narrows her eyes at you. And great, you’ve accidently been the one to initiate the verbal sparring match at the table.

“I’ll have you know,” she says, pointing with the bread she’s holding, “that I’m can be very sneaky when the time calls for it. You _yell_ when you speak, so maybe you shouldn’t comment on other people’s sneakiness levels.”

Everyone turns to look at you, waiting for a response.

“I can be very quiet,” you reply, dropping your voice to a whisper. “But it’s considered cowardly to attack from behind.”

“What are the rules of courtesy when it comes to a rebellion?” Dave cuts in.

You turn to look at him and narrow your eyes. He’s trying to rile you up.

“As I mentioned before, the heir to the Empire must challenge the current Empress for the throne. A rebellion is an acceptable way to do so.”

“Isn’t a challenge like that supposed to be one on one? Getting an entire army to fight for you seems pretty cowardly,” Dave says, shrugging.

You breathe heavily through your nose. He’s trying to get a reaction out of you. He’s trying to get one of your secrets out. You just really want to defend Feferi. Falling for Dave's bait is far too easy.

“The new Empress is a new type of ruler,” you settle on after a long pause.

“You’re avoiding the question,” Dave scoffs.

“I don’t need to explain the rules of my Empire to a human who doesn’t even live in it,” you snap.

Dave’s eyebrows raise ever so subtly.  He’s enjoying getting a rise out of you. The rest of the table is avoiding your gaze. A troll who believes in the Empire doesn’t belong on Skaia. You swallow heavily.

“I’m finished. I’ll be in my room if you need me,” you say quietly and hurry out of the room.

* * *

 

Some time later there’s a knock on your door. You’ve spent the time since dinner lying on your bed just staring at the ceiling. You never wished more for any other troll to be here – to back you up against seven humans who have pretty heavy biases against trolls. You don’t blame them, considering the history trolls have with Skaia, but it would be nice if you could just explain what the Empire is doing. That it isn’t bad as it seems from the outside. These things just take time. Reform is a process.

“K?” Jade calls. “May I come in?”

“If you must,” you growl and you feel a rising panic in your chest – they’re going to kick you out.

Jade pushes the door open slowly, peeking her head in. She smiles apologetically.

“What do you want?” you question roughly, swinging your legs around and sitting up on the bed.

She steps in and her skirt swishes around her feet as she moves. She shuts the door delicately and for a moment just wrings her hands nervously. Here it comes. You don’t belong anywhere. You don’t belong with the trolls because you’re a mutant and you don’t belong with the misfits because you care too much about your friends in the Empire.

“Why do you continue to defend the Empire?” she blurts out and you inhale sharply. “It doesn’t make sense! People don’t come to Skaia if they like the Empire – they come here to get away from it.”

Your jaw drops open and you just gape at Jade in surprise. She’s not here to kick you out – she just wants answers.

“It’s complicated,” you reply.

“And by complicated you mean…” Jade trails off meaningfully.

“That I’m a member of the Empress’ council,” you admit because you can’t hold it back any longer.

You don’t wait for Jade’s reaction because it’s already out the bag. You might as well just go ahead and tell the whole story.

“I was a pretty major figure in the rebellion because I could unite the low bloods for Feferi, the Empress. As a result, when Feferi became Empress, I was pretty integral to maintaining order – I still am. There was an assassination attempt on Feferi and all of her generals from the rebellion. I was deemed too important to risk, so I was taken to Skaia to be hidden until it’s safe.”

You bow your head, ashamed that you’ve blown your secret. There is a very long pause before Jade speaks.

“You’re Karkat Vantas,” she says with awe in her voice.

“Even famous in the Human Sovereignty,” you remark self-deprecatingly.

“What you did was amazing!” Jade gushes and she moves forward to sit on the bed next to you.

She takes your hands in hers. They’re soft and warm. You wonder, in the back of your mind, how someone living on Skaia managed to keep such smooth hands.

 “The Empress is your friend,” Jade says and there is no question, only a statement.

“She changed the law so I wouldn’t be killed when I reached adulthood,” you explain. “I owe her my life.”

“Being Empress is hard work,” Jade hums.

“People will slander her regardless, but at least when I was in the palace I didn’t have to hear it. Out here, it’s much harder to avoid it. Feferi is a good troll, Jade. You have to believe me.”

“I do believe you,” Jade assures you, “but it’s hard for us out here to put our faith in the Empire. The Empire has done very little to show that it keeps to its promises. The opening of the space station, for example.”

“We used it during the rebellion,” you explain. “It needed to be cleared out. If you went up there, you’d find it empty.”

“Maybe,” Jade replies. “Or it could be full of military vessels prepared to neutralize a human threat.”

You exhale deeply. She’s right. You may not be privy to the military operations of the Empire, but you know Vriska well enough. There is a very long pause between the two of you. Jade continues to hold your hands.

“None of us are mad at you,” Jade says, breaking the silence. “You’re loyal to your Empress, that’s not a fault. It’s just hard to trust someone who supports the same Empire that a few years ago had us living in fear.”

“Not the same Empire,” you correct. “The former Empress, she ruled alone. Feferi is slowly turning the Empire into something more equal. More voices to make decisions. We were working on a senate before the assassination.”

Jade’s eyebrows rise in surprise.

“We may be violent, but we can do politics,” you add defensively.

Jade laughs a little bit at that. You feel your cheeks getting hot, embarrassed.

“You won’t tell anyone what I told you, right?” you ask feeling nervous.

“You can trust me,” Jade says nodding. “No one else will know. Does Jane know?”

“I suspect she does but we’re both pretending that she doesn’t.”

“She’s very well connected. Don’t let her baby blues trick you.”

You let out a bark of laughter at this before the two of you lapse into silence again.

“Dave does that a lot,” Jade finally says and you suppose this is the real reason she came up here.

She slips her hand away from yours and goes back to wringing it in her lap. You cannot fathom why she's nervous discussing her friend.

“Being an asshole?” you mutter, anger returning from Dave’s words.

“Winds people up until they get so angry that they storm off and leave. I think it might be a defense mechanism, to not let people get too close. He perceives you as a threat to the family we have here.”

Oh. She’s spilling Dave’s secrets, that’s why Jade is uncomfortable. It’s not really her place, but Dave isn’t exactly going to explain himself.

“That’s ridiculous,” you snort. “I have no intentions of becoming a part of your family."

“Still,” Jade replies keeping her voice even. “Jane letting you help her represents a change in balance here. I’m not even sure if he’s aware he’s doing it. He’s got this façade that he’s cool all the time, it can be hard to tell if he’s being deliberate or not.”

“Are you trying to tell me to forgive him without Dave actually apologizing?”

“No. I’m just trying to explain Dave to you. He’s my best friend and he can be difficult. I like you being here too because it’s been just us for so long. I’d hate for you have to leave because you and Dave can’t get along,” Jade explains.

“I’m not sure I follow.”

Jade sighs and mutters something under her breath that sounds like ‘stupid boys.’

“Just don’t take what he says personally,” she states firmly. “You’ll live a much happier life that way. Arguing with Dave is an unwinnable battle.”

You curl your lips back because that sounds like a challenge. You’ve never been one to back down from a challenge. Jade punches your arm. She looks annoyed.

“I see that look. Don’t even think about it,” Jade scolds.

You put your hands up in defense. Jade grins at you in response and pats your thigh before standing.

“Glad we had this talk,” she says. “You should come back down, we’re having a game of Monopoly. It’s some old Earth game – half the pieces are missing and Rose always wins but it’s a good time.”

“I’ve actually had a long day. I think I’m just going to go to bed,” you reply and you rub the back of your neck nervously. “Uh, thanks for being cool though, Jade. I appreciate it.”

Jade nods and exits the room. You lie back down and stare at the ceiling again. Despite Jade’s warning, you can’t help but think about challenging Dave. You’ve dealt with Eridan and your friends have always told you that you’re one of the thickest headed and stubborn people they know. You kind of want to try to beat the apparently unbeatable Dave at his own game.

* * *

 

Gardening is probably your favourite job to do for the inn. Jane often does it herself since, she too, finds it too be a very relaxing task. Back on Alternia, your lawn ring was one of the finest in the neighbourhood. Gardening on Skaia distracts you from life after the rebellion by taking you back to a simpler time on Alternia.

With the _Rogue_ crew back, Jane is spending a lot of time at the port working on the ship. Dirk managed to bang out a plan for new stealth technology, recruiting Jane and Roxy to help install it. You’ve managed to piece together that the _Rogue_ is their baby, the three of them formerly working in a scrap yard and finding its burnt out husk. Then they rebuilt it from parts they found and bargained for.

Even though Jane isn’t at the inn constantly, the jobs still must get done. You manage to split the tasks up with Jade and Rose. The two of them had taken care of the inn in Jane’s absence previously. You quickly claim garden duty as your own, mostly because you enjoy it but partly because being in the garden out back means you don’t have to worry about running into Dave.

Unfortunately, he seeks you out.

“Former military, right?” Dave calls out.

You look up from the hole you had been digging to see Dave leaning casually against the wall of the inn. You must look confused because he quickly clarifies what he meant. It's an amusing picture, as Dave physically rearranges himself to present a different image. Looks like the cool guy approach failed.

“You’re holding the shovel like a weapon,” he says. “Like you’re ready to strike if someone were to attack. So am I right? Are you former military? Like you were part of the rebellion, but afterwards did you join the military or before the rebellion?”

You spike the shovel into the ground and lean against the handle. It takes a moment for you to answer. You were never formally trained to be in the military, but like all young trolls you learned to fight. When you were young you dreamed of being a threshcutioner and working in the military. Later you became a rebel leader, one of Feferi’s generals. That could be considered military even though Dave knows you were part of the rebellion. You could also just throw vague facts out to confuse him.

“Something like that,” you reply after a pause. 

“That’s really informative,” Dave replies sarcastically and you think he might be rolling his eyes behind his omnipresent shades.

“It’s complicated,” you growl and grab the shovel before thrusting it back into the ground again.

So maybe you’re making a bit of display to casually display your strength. Dave’s a human, however. A completely unflappable human. The action doesn’t even faze him. He probably has no basis to even understand troll strength.

“Isn’t it always complicated? Isn’t being complicated what it means to be alive?” Dave says and he looks up at the sky.

“What the fuck.”

Dave just shrugs and looks back at you. His head is cocked slightly in interest.

“What was your weapon of choice?” he asks and sounds genuinely curious.

You meet his gaze evenly. It feels like he’s looking for someone to fight with.

“Are you looking for a fight?” you ask, narrowing your eyes trying to find out his motives.

In troll society this could be considered black flirting. Most of Dave’s challenges could be considered black flirting. You don’t really think a human with an extreme dislike of trolls living outside of the Empire would have an understanding of the quadrants. Most trolls revile at the thought of having anything other than a troll in a quadrant. So the information is scarcely shared.

There’s nothing really going on in your quadrants, other than Kanaya, and trolls aren’t exactly lining up for a mutant blood like you. Maybe trying to explain black romance to Dave wouldn’t be such a terrible thing. He seems like he could be worth it.

“I wouldn’t be adverse to a spar,” he replies casually and oh yeah, he definitely came looking for you to have a fight.

“I don’t have to prove myself to you,” you hiss because you’re going to do this the right way.

Dave smirks and it really pisses you off.

“I didn’t say anything like that,” he says in that frustratingly cool tone.

“Alright then, let’s strife. It’s been a while,” you reply, yanking the shovel out the dirt.

“Jane will kill us if we do it in the garden,” Dave interjects suddenly, pushing himself off the wall. “There’s a place we can do it back behind the house.”

That takes you by surprise. You didn’t really Dave think could be considerate. From what you’ve seen in his interactions with the other humans, he generally appears to be a major ass to them. You recall what Jade said about Dave and this being a family. You understand Dave’s behaviour a bit more, since you too can be an asshole to the people you care the most about.

“Are you going to use that shovel or what?” Dave questions.

“I use sickles,” you mutter.

“Alright, so a shovel could work with the gardening theme,” he says in what almost seems like a teasing tone.

You’re slightly confused since last time you interacted his goal was to piss you off. Maybe Jade gave him a talking to as well, telling him to play nice or something. Whatever it is, you prefer this side of Dave much more.

“Sickles are a deadly and well respected weapon in the Empire,” you tell him.

Dave just shrugs.

“I think Jane might keep some in the shed,” he directs.

You watch him for a couple of seconds before turning towards the shed. It takes a few minutes but you manage to find the sickles Dave had mentioned. They’re fairly old and the blade is less curved than you’re use to, but it’s better than nothing. You’d take these ones over those bullshit ceremonial ones back at the palace.

“Alright then, follow me,” Dave says and turns to head back into the inn.

You trail behind him, gripping the sickles and quietly weighing them in your hand. You’re not really sure what to expect from Dave, but know that you’ll be giving it your all regardless. He’s 100% testing you.

Rose and Jade watch you curiously as you pass through the main room. The sickles catch their attentions immediately.

“Where you going with K, Dave?” Rose inquires primly.

Dave shrugs in response and keeps going. Rose sighs in annoyance, a regular occurrence when it comes to Dave. When Jade catches your eyes, you just nod and hope she’ll understand that it will all be okay. Both of them return to what they were as the two of you exit the main room, so it must be okay.

Dave leads through the house to a tiny area back outside. No grass is growing on the ground and the dirt is packed down. Sparring must be a regular thing here.

“Dirk and I come back here to deal with our issues rather than using our words,” Dave says casually as he walks over to what looks like a pile of swords.

When Dave reaches down and picks up a blade, you realize that, holy shit, they just keep a pile of swords in their backyard.

“That’s fucking insane,” you comment.

“Coming from the troll,” Dave says and lets your insult slide off of him as he continues to sort through the blades.

You growl in annoyance and wait for Dave to pick his weapon. You pass the time by giving the sickles a couple of spins, getting more of a feel for them. You lose yourself in the familiar motions. It reminds you of the training regiment you’d go through every morning during the rebellion. It’s all muscle memory at this point and as long as you remember the rebellion, you won’t forget how to fight.

“We going to do this or what?” Dave asks, sounding bored.

You stop spinning the sickles to look at him with annoyance. You were waiting on him. Dave sounds bored but he’s clearly watching you with extreme interest, probably still trying to gauge where you learned your skills.

“You’re using a broken sword?” you demand, looking at the broken blade in his hands.

“This would be a great time for a Lord of the Rings reference, but it’s wasted because the only other person here is not a person, but a troll,” Dave laments to himself. “Roxy would be proudly.”

“What.”

“My last name is Strider and the character – you know what never mind – it’s just some old Earth bullshit. But hell yeah I use a broken sword,” Dave sort of explains. “Anyway Dirk won’t let me use any whole blades since I’m pretty much guaranteed to break them.”

“Dumbass,” you mutter. “We’re doing this.”

“We’re making this happen,” Dave replies under his breath with unrestrained glee.

Must be more Earth bullshit.

Dave steps back a few feet and places himself so he’s standing directly across from you in the backyard. His face is back to neutral and it enrages you off that he’s so chill about this. So, despite knowing it’s foolish, you decide to make the first move.

You charge forward, holding the sickles at the ready but when you arrive at the space where you think Dave is – you find it empty. You force yourself to an abrupt stop and whirl around. Dave is standing where you just were, giving you an infuriating smirk.

He’s fast – you didn’t even see him move. Dave casually readjusts his grip on his broken sword, pulling it into attack position. This time he makes the move, dashing up to you. It happens too quickly that you barely have any time to react.

You pull the sickles upwards to block his blow, holding them parallel to each other in front of your face. It doesn’t take much to shove him backwards, he may have speed but you have a fair bit of strength. Dave quickly recovers and you scowl when you see that his face is still calm and collected.

He comes at you again with a different strategy. The first movement was to gauge your strength, which he’s unable to match. Dave brings his blade up and begins a series of quick assaults. You’re struggling to keep up with the light blows, some you only just manage to knock away before the jagged edge of the broken sword can touch your skin.

You’re so caught up in blocking, you don’t notice when Dave brings down the hilt of his sword and smashes through the wooden handle of one of the sickles. You completely stall at this point and he uses it to his advantage, knocking the remaining part out of your hand. It goes flying across the yard and hits the pile of swords, scattering them into a bigger mess.

Hissing in annoyance, you grip your remaining sickle with two hands and start to parry his blows with much more vigour. With each block, you push backwards. This forces Dave to readjust his hits, which has them coming slower as a result. Now that he’s slowed, this is your chance. Between one of his swings, you shove the hilt of the sickle forward hoping to knock him down.

Dave reacts immediately and grabs it was his hand, effectively stopping the movement. You stare at each other for a brief moment before Dave smirks and then you’re on the ground. Bastard swung his leg out and knocked you over because you were too focused on getting him between his hits.

He brings the blade down and points it at your neck. The spar is over.

“I win,” he says, smirking at you. “Didn’t think your tiny frame had so much strength behind it.”

“I’m not tiny,” you growl as you shove the blade away.

Dave lets it. It goes clattering off to the side as well.

You’re preparing to get up when Dave offers you his hand. There’s a brief moment when you think about knocking it away like you did his sword. That would appear petty though. You take his hand and allow him to help you back up.

“You gave me a run for my money,” he admits quietly. “I was a little caught off guard when you threw me off so easily. Hate to fight you when if you had real sickles though.”

You suppress the grin that threatens to spread across your face.

“How did you get so fast?” you ask. “I’ve never seen someone move so quickly.”

“Dirk trained me,” Dave replies, shrugging. “You’d have to ask him where he discovered the secret to flash stepping.”

You realize you’re still holding hands and quickly pull yours away.

“And I thought we were having a moment,” Dave announces, voice full of mock hurt.

You roll your eyes.

“Did I pass your little test?” you ask.

“This wasn’t a test,” Dave tells you with his best ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about’ face.

“Theoretically then,” you concede.

“Theoretically yes,” Dave says and turns away to head back into the house.

With his back turned, you allow the grin to appear on your face.

“Hey,” Dave calls, but doesn’t turn around. “You still got some work in the garden to do before Jane gets back – want some help?”

You’re slightly confused at this offer. Although you know Dave is human and has little grasp of black romance, he’s still hasn’t been anything but an annoying shit to you. It doesn’t really add up.

“I suppose,” you drawl.

“Cool,” he says and heads back into the house. “I’ll meet you back in the garden then.”

You toss the remaining sickle into the sword pile just in case you and Dave decide to do this again. You’ll be planning, just in case.  Now that you have a general understanding of his style, there’s a better chance for you to beat him next time. He relies far too much on his speed to fluster his opponents. It worked on you this time but if there’s a next time, you’ll be ready.

Deciding that you’ve wasted enough time lost in your own thoughts, you head towards the door and back to the garden to finish your work.

* * *

 

Since your spar with Dave, there’s been an uplift in the air around you. Or maybe you had just been focusing far too much on Dave’s dislike of you that it messed with the rest of the atmosphere. You feel more welcomed at the inn and with the humans, taking a more active part in discussions. You managed to even offer a suggestion to Dirk about the new stealth technology, which he agreed with.

You don’t know much about building space ships, but you did help Sollux a bit when he designed the pods. So you have a bit of an edge on the whole ‘top of the line’ stealth technology that Dirk is aiming for with the _Rogue._

“Jake pilots the pod K is talking about,” Jane says.

The three of you are in the main room of the inn surrounding one of the many tables. You had noticed Jane and Dirk bickering over the blueprints for the _Rogue._ Dirk’s original plan didn’t work out like he thought, so he's back to the drawing board. You quickly interjected what Dirk is designing would only work if you had a particular kind of adaptor, which had been uniquely designed by Sollux, to disperse the energy from the generator in a fashion that masks the generator’s energy signal and creates the masking technology itself. You can’t exactly explain it outright but you can help lead Dirk to the discovery.

Dirk regards you with suspicious eyes that you meet evenly. Let him think what he wants. You have faith that Dirk believes in Jane enough that he wouldn’t risk your secret if he continued to theorize what your history was.

“But when’s the next time Jake is coming to Skaia,” Dirk states blandly.

“He said he’d back for the festival,” Jane reminds him softly.

“Wouldn’t be the first promise he broke,” Dirk snips. “So unless I can get my hands on another pod, this isn’t going to work.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” you cut in and point to where Dirk has the adaptor on the blueprint and begin running your finger around the shape of the _Rogue_. “This needs to be able to take the load while simultaneously masking a huge energy signature that would be typical of the generator you have planned. If you designed the adaptor to disperse the energy in coming from the generator, it wouldn’t make a detectable signature.”

“And the energy itself could be used to create the actual stealth technology, since if harnessed in a particular way it would allow any detection technology to pass harmlessly though it,” Dirk says in amazement. “That’s perfect. We could also remove the bulky add-ons that disrupt detection signals and instead install a single generator.”

“So our baby won’t be dragged down by unnecessary bulk and remain sleek,” Jane sighs happily. “I think this calls for a bit of a celebration! I have some alcohol squirreled away in the pantry.”

“I’ll get it,” you offer.

“It’s on the top left shelf,” Jane instructs. “The label says bleach but that’s only to keep everyone else out.”

“Why would you keep bleach in the pantry in the first place?” Dirk inquires, giving Jane a confused look.

“You hide your alcohol your way and I’ll hide it my way,” Jane replies, "Mr. 'I keep oil in under my bed.'"

You head off to the side house and through the kitchen to the large pantry Jane modified from what you assume use to be another bedroom. The alcohol is easier enough to locate in a large bottle that Jane has marked ‘Bleach! Do not drink!’ The bottle isn’t full so maybe Jane’s approach isn’t quite working.

Alcohol doesn’t affect trolls the same way it does humans – there are other substances to do that – but it’s fairly plentiful. It has its uses in cleaning wounds and the like. It must be more rare out here if Jane is keeping it hidden for celebrations.

As you exit the pantry you hear a voice in the room next to it. The door is shut, like you’ve always seen it. This is the first time since you’ve been here that someone has been inside of it. Curiosity gets the better of you and you knock on the door.

“Can Town officials only!” Dave’s voice resonates through the wooden door.

So this is where Dave disappears to during the day. You set the alcohol bottle down and push the door open.

“Hey I said – oh it’s just you,” Dave says looking up at you from the floor. “You can come in, since you’ve never experienced the majesty of Can Town before.”

He and the Mayor are both in here, sitting on the floor surrounded by stacks of cans, the occasional book, and tons of chalk drawings. The entire room is filled with it, coming together to create a coherent picture of a town. Maybe a town that looks like Skaia, judging from the shamble of streets and closeness of buildings. The Mayor looks pretty damn excited to see you there. It’s kind of cute you admit privately.

“What is this?” you question, looking around.

“Close the door and find a place to sit, you’ll make the citizens nervous,” Dave orders. “The others don’t really get the Can Town project.”

“Can Town?” you say slowly as you carefully sink to the ground.

“Something me and a friend started a couple years back. She left but I continued on since it meant that I got to spend time with the Mayor,” Dave explains. “But I ended up getting just as invested in the project as the Mayor.”

“So this is why he’s called the Mayor,” you conclude.

“Pretty much,” Dave replies and he’s arranging some cans neatly to form a tower.

“What are you building?” you question.

“Clock Tower, every decent town needs a massive time keeping device,” he says.

“And the Mayor?” you asks.

The Carapacian seems to be happily skirting about the town, just examining it.

“Being the mayor,” Dave shrugs. “I do most of the building, he’s mostly here to be cute.”

“Huh.”

“Yeah.”

You watch as Dave finishes up stacking the cans before grabbing another and quickly drawing out a clock in chalk before placing it on top.

“Are you going to help because only one person in here is getting away with doing nothing and it sure as hell isn’t you,” Dave says turning to face you.

“I can help?” you ask incredulously

“Why not? Can Town can always use another build crew.”

“Alright. I just need to bring something to Dirk and Jane and I’ll be right back.”

“Cool.”

That’s definitely not a black heart flutter you get when Dave asks you to help with Can Town.

You grab the alcohol bottle not so cleverly disguised as bleach and bring it out to Jane and Dirk. Jane already has three cups ready when you return. She takes the bottle eagerly from you.

“Alcohol doesn’t have the same effect on me as it does you,” you tell Jane as she begins to pour. “So I’ll have to pass.”

“Dave has you helping with Can Town doesn’t he?” Dirk says almost immediately.

“How did you know?”

“I know that he’s in there right now and it took some time for you to bring this back,” Dirk says shrugging. “Plus you have the ‘I just saw the Mayor do something cute’ look on your face.”

“Bring this back to the pantry first, will you?” Jane says, handing you the bottle. “Try not to get to absorbed into Can Town. You’re a good worker.”

You take the bottle back as Jane pushes a glass in front of Dirk.

“How long has this project been going on?”

“Since the last troll came to Skaia,” Jane starts to explain. “She was a lot of fun until she –“

“Jane!” Dirk cuts in harshly.

“Am I missing something?” you ask.

“Not our story to tell,” Dirk says tightly, giving Jane the angriest look you’ve ever seen him direct at her.

“Is the troll still here?”

“No, she’s been gone for ages,” Jane elaborates. “She was here clearing this place of military presence, spent a couple of months coming back and forth so we could let the Empress know Skaia was pleased with her quick action.”

“I know a few trolls who had jobs like that,” you muse. 

“Don’t go looking into it,” Dirk cuts in, his voice firm.

You nod and decide now is the best time to leave. Who knows how much more hostile Dirk is going to get with you? And you had only just gotten on his good side. You quickly tuck the alcohol bottle back into the pantry before returning to Can Town.

Dave and the Mayor are both waiting for you.

“The Mayor thinks, since you’re new to Can Town, the first project you do should be a joint one,” Dave explains. “Come over to this empty patch over here.”

“I didn’t think the Mayor spoke,” you say as you carefully step over the cans to where Dave is sitting.

Dave and the Mayor share a look.

“He doesn’t but I’ve known him long enough to interpret his body language,” Dave clarifies quickly.

You kneel down next to him and Dave hands you a box of chalk.

“What’s your favourite colour?” Dave asks.

In a moment of wild insanity, you consider taking the candy red chalk. However, it’s already missing so you settle for your usual gray.

“Totally hoping you’d take your blood colour,” Dave quips lightly.

You gently prod him with your elbow.

“Your manners would have you culled in the Empire,” you shoot back.

“I thought the Empress redefined culling."

“Fuck off,” you mutter because he’s got you there.

A grin tugs at the edge of Dave’s lips but he quickly schools the expression. You then notice that he’s using the red chalk.

“So we’re going to build the Troll Embassy,” Dave explains and begins to draw a rectangle on the ground. “Seems fitting for your first project.” 

“Trolls don’t have embassies,” you reply.

“Yet,” Dave counters.

Dave brings up a good point. Maybe that’s something you could bring up with Feferi when you return home.

“What do I need to do?”

Dave quickly launches into an explanation on how new additions work in Can Town. First you have to plan it out with chalk then you can place a requisition for some cans with the Mayor. He generally lets you have them. Once you have acquired the cans, you can start to build the structure. Additional flare is added after the build is complete. Everything must be within strict building regulations, however.

You and Dave spend a great deal of time arguing over how to design the embassy. You come out on top when you mention that trolls are raised to be savvy in architecture from a very young age. The Mayor takes your side and you can’t help the triumphant laugh that bubbles up when Dave visibly deflates. The Mayor hands you the very first can for the embassy and gives you the honour of placing it. The carapacian claps politely, like it's a real ground-breaking ceremony.

Time passes easily as the two of you build the embassy. Dave adds some artistic flair to the building when he finds out that, for all your big talk, you’re a really terrible artist and can’t actually draw what you're talking about. You personally add lettering in both the human common and Alternian to the entrance. Dave adds a third language to it after a brief thought.

“What is that?” you ask curiously, the lettering is completely foreign to you.

“Skaian,” Dave explains. “It’s just a bunch of languages that have melded together, particularly common and Alternian.”

It’s odd that you can speak both those languages but don’t understand Skaian at all.

“Is this what you speak when you don’t want me to understand?” you question.

Dave nods and pushes one of the cans supporting the entrance back a little bit.

“I can teach you a bit if you want. If you’re going to stick around any longer, it would be best if you spoke the local tongue,” he offers casually. “I probably wouldn’t be the best teacher though, Rose is the academic of the family.”

“I’d like if you could teach me,” you answer, quite grateful that Dave would even offer.

“Cool,” is all he says before shuffling backwards from the Embassy and looking to the Mayor. “Can Town Troll Embassy is a completed project. Only a bit slower than usual build time, but the troll consultant was difficult to work with.”

The Mayor nods happily and you scowl.

“I thought it went by quickly,” you argue.

“I didn’t say it wasn’t enjoyable.”

“Oh.”

“Anyway it’s been just over an hour, time for dinner,” Dave says standing and dusting his pants off of red and grey chalk.

“How can you tell how much time has passed? There’s no clock in here,” you ask, standing up yourself.

“Just some bullshit quirk.”

You turn and admire your work. Personally, you think it’s one of the finer establishments in Can Town.

“Nice work, K. Think we’ll be seeing you around here again?” Dave questions.

Even though half his face is hidden by shades, you know that he’s trying to play cool and not sound too desperate.

“I think Can Town _needs_ me,” you respond. “It’s in serious need of some real architectural advice.”

Dave scoffs but you can tell he’s hiding a grin.

“We should get out of here before Jane sends someone to drag us out. Some people have no respect for building codes.”

* * *

 

Laundry is probably the task you hate the most. It wasn’t so bad when it was just you and Jane since that meant there were very little clothes to deal with. Fifty percent of them belonged to you and everything else was well mixed with the bed sheets used by guests. Also, on Skaia, an outfit was worn more than four times a week so there wasn't actually that much laundry to do in the first place. With the addition of the _Rogue_ crew, the amount of clothes that you are responsible for cleaning grew exponentially. And it’s not like you have a little issue with touching someone else’s unmentionables – you have a HUGE FUCKING issue with touching someone else’s unmentionables.

The strategy is to spend as little time as possible touching the clothes and then finding the nearest sink and scrubbing your hands raw. Repeat as many times necessary or until the laundry is complete.

Jane told you earlier that she and the _Rogue_ crew were going out to find some supplies for the festival they’re always talking about. There have only been vague explanations of the festival when you ask about it, so you figure maybe you should just wait and see what it’s all about. Regardless, on your typical rush from the laundry room to the kitchen sink, you nearly jump out of your skin when you see Dave.

He’s leaning back in a chair, only two of its legs touching the ground, while his feet are kicked up onto the kitchen table. Jane would kill him if she saw that. He appears to be tossing a tiny black ball up in the air before catching it and repeating the process.

“Where’s the fire?” he asks casually and not even looking at you.

“There is no fire,” you reply harshly and for some reason you are completely enraged that Dave is here and caught you in your ridiculous laundry act. “Why are you not with the others?”

“Wow did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning or what?” Dave replies.

“Why are you?” you repeat.

“I wasn’t feeling well this morning, so I stayed behind,” he explains.

Dave kicks his feet off the table and lands them on the ground, in sync with the once elevated chair legs. You scowl at him for the unnecessary display before heading to the sink to wash your hands.

“Playing in the mud or something?” he asks now rolling the ball on the table between his hands.

“I was doing laundry.”

“Isn’t that meant to clean?” he asks, clearly confused.

“I don’t like touching other people’s clothes,” you admit. "Clean or dirty."

“That’s ridiculous.”

You growl in the back of your throat and focus on violently scrubbing your hands.

“I mean, I’m pretty sure the laundry uses soap and water so you could just stick your little hands in there and give ‘em a good stir,” he continues.

“And touch the water where all the filth is collecting in?” you say, wrinkling your nose in disgust. “I’ve seen the colour that it turns after I put all your clothes in there.”

“You have a point there,” Dave concedes.

“Why are you in the kitchen if you’re not feeling well?” you ask.

You turn the tap off and shake your hands free of water before turning to face Dave. He’s absently rolling the ball along and mostly focused on you.

“I was waiting for you to show up. I got bored of sitting around it bed,” he replies. “Hoping you’d play nursemaid K for a little bit.”

“In your dreams, Dave,” you scoff.

“Worth a try. But can you do me one thing?”

“Depends on what it is.”

“Don’t tell Dirk I got out of bed when he gets back. Sometimes he likes to pretend I’m still a kid and gets all grouchy when he’s worried.”

“Are you seriously ill?” you ask looking Dave over for any outward signs of distress.

“Just a stomach bug, nothing too bad,” he says shrugging. “Enough to make it a bad idea to go walking around all day.”

“I suppose I can keep your secret,” Dave stops rolling the ball in surprise, “if you tell me what that thing you keep your rolling around.”

“This old thing?” he says and holds it up in his palm for you to see.

You lean forward to inspect is, placing your palms on the table. It’s a tiny black orb with little holes covering it and and a single button, curved into the surface.

“Yeah, you rolling it around is pissing me off.”

“Doesn’t take much to piss you off, dude.”

“Ignoring that comment. What is it?”

“It’s a projection of the night sky as it’s seen on Earth. Dirk made it for me when we first came to Skaia. I wanted to see Earth when I was that age and,” Dave’s ears go pink in embarrassment, “I was afraid to go to sleep with the Prospit station hanging above. I was use to seeing the night sky every night. He made it for me so I’d fall asleep easier.”

“So it’s a comfort device. You have it out because you’re sick and require comforting,” you point out.

“Makes me sound lame when you put it like that,” Dave replies, scowling. “But yeah, I brought it out because it has a bunch of nice memories attached to it.”

“It’s not weak to have something that comforts you,” you tell him softly.

He just shrugs.

“Do you want to see it?” he offers.

“Sure.”

“Okay, turn off all the lights and shut the blinds. Needs to be dark for the best effect,” Dave instructs.

He sets the tiny orb in the centre of the table while you go about the kitchen, making it as dark as possible. After you’re done, you settle into the chair across from Dave.

“Ready to get your mind fucking blown?” he asks.

You nod and he press the button on the tiny orb. It explodes with light and you’re transported from Jane’s tiny kitchen to the surface of Earth. You stare upwards and take in the night sky with awe. Alternia never looked like this and even though you live in space, there is nothing like looking up at the stars from a planet.

Dave is also staring up at the hologram, taking it all in. He must have seen this a hundred times before but never tires of its beauty.

“Have you heard of Earth’s constellations?” he asks.

“Yes, but I’ve never seen them. Alternia has it’s own set, but trolls have nowhere near the creativity of humans,” you admit.

“Awesome, then I get to take you on your first tour of the Earth’s sky. Prepare for a journey through the fucking magnificence of the Sol system."

It’s easy to tell that this is something that is important to him. Mapping out the stars is something that Dave keeps very close to his heart.

“Who taught you this?” you ask before he starts.

“Dirk. It inspired me to start making star maps and shit. I’m the _Rogue’_ s navigator so I've got to understand it all,” he replies.

Dave begins to point out various stars in the hologram, briefly explaining the background of each one. You don’t always really see what he’s pointing out but enjoy the consideration he’s putting into it anyway. You’re favourite part is when he starts to explain the zodiac because each of the symbols reminds you of your friends. It’s kind of funny since some of the stories behind the constellations can actually be associated with them.

Cancer is the one that belongs to you. You don’t tell Dave this because that would involve revealing yourself as Karkat Vantas and you’re not at all ready to tell such an extreme Anti-Empire human that you’re a pretty important figure in the government.

“Have you ever been to Earth?” you ask once he’s finished. “You mentioned that you wanted to see it when you were younger. Did that ever come true?”

“Sure I wanted to go to Earth when I was kid, but then I realized that at the beginning of the war and when Prospit was destroyed, the united government made a decision to pull out from the outer edges of the Sovereignty. Earth left us to die out here. Offered no support when the troll’s came to occupy Skaia and we haven’t even heard from Earth since the war ended,” Dave replies angrily. “Why would I want to see a planet that abandoned my people and left us for dead?”

You don’t miss the way he says ‘my people,’ but you choose to ignore it for now.

“You’ve got a point there, but it is the home of your species.”

“It’s not my home. My home is Skaia and my duty is to the people here.”

“Jane said something similar not too long ago.”

“Her job is a bit more important,” he replies, unsurprisingly vague because other than Jake, the other humans have been deliberately secretive when it comes to how they arrived on Skaia and this ‘duty’ they speak so highly of. “I can’t just go running off to Earth because it’s the birthplace of my species or whatever. There is nothing for me on that planet.”

The two of you go quiet as you allow Dave to settle down somewhat.

“Do you want to return to Alternia, even though you were forced off of it at adulthood?” Dave asks.

“I miss it most days,” you admit. “Those were the easy days of my life and the simplest. I had my own hive, all to myself, and I could do whatever I wanted with my friends. I mostly miss my lusus though – a lusus is a caretaker for young trolls.”

“I know what a lusus is. It’s kind of like my parents and then Dirk after they died.”

You nod even though you’re not really sure what that means.

“What was your lusus?”

“A giant crab.”

Dave lets out of shout of unprecedented laughter.

“You’re lusus was a _crab_? That’s gold, man!”

You scowl at him.

“The similarities have been pointed out to me on multiple occasions, thank you,” you sneer.

Dave lifts his shades slightly and wipes away a tear. That only causes you to get even more annoyed with him. A couple of moments pass while Dave collects himself. You just glower at him from across the table. After enough time has passed, you take the initiative to drive the conversation as far away as possible from your lusus.

“So you said Dirk was like your lusus – what exactly is his relationship to you?”

“He’s my brother,” Dave tells you as if it’s no big deal.

“I don’t really understand human familial relationships. You’ll need to elaborate further.”

“Seriously – oh yeah the whole ‘incestuous slurry’ thing,” he says thoughtfully.

Your mind drifts back to the other troll that Jane mentioned staying here a few years ago. It would be odd that another troll would be so forth coming with details of troll reproduction and rearing, but it would be the only way that Dave would know about lusii and the incestuous slurry. To know about this information would imply a less than platonic relationship. Or it was a particularly helpful troll.

“So a brother pretty much comes from the same set of genetic material,” Dave explains. “There can also be a sister, which is pretty much the same thing but the result is a girl and not a boy. Roxy and Rose are sisters.”

“What about Jane, John, and Jade they all appear to come from the same genetic sources as well?”

“They’re cousins, which is a bit more complicated.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” you say and you don’t really want to know the nitty gritty details of human relationships. “What about Jake?”

“How do you know about Jake?” Dave questions sharply.

You’re reminded that he doesn’t know that Jake brought you here. To him, you arrived on a regular transport vessel.

“He was here when I arrived, for a brief time,” you say, not really lying.

“Oh. Well it gets even more complicated with Jake, since he’s John and Jade’s cousin but not Jane’s. I don’t even know how their family tree works, but Jake and Jane are unrelated.”

You puff your cheeks out, trying to wrap your mind on what exactly it all means.

“Humans are so complicated. One person lineages are much easier,” you tell him, feeling superior.

“At least we don’t have a complicated quadrant system,” Dave shoots back.

“I’ll have you know that the quadrant system is very sophisticated and fulfilling,” you lie.

You like talking about the theory of the quadrant system but have nothing to show for it. One measly quadrant filled – that’s no to disrespect Kanaya – but you’ve long screwed over a chance for a matespritship with Terezi and various black feelings that you have embarrassingly flung everywhere. The idea of having black feelings for Dave quickly flew out the window when you found him far too endearing and likeable to truly hate him.

“You’ve got your quadrants filled then?” Dave asks with genuine curiosity.

“That’s a pretty rude question,” you tell him haughtily.

You don’t need Dave mocking you for your single quadrant, despite your pride in Kanaya.

“So for all your big talk, you’re still a single Troll,” Dave teases regardless of you giving him a straight answer. “Probably never even had a date or even a hate date.”

You glare at him and give him a swift kick from underneath the table before turning back to look at the holographic stars. They’ve shifted somewhat since Dave first started the hologram.

“S’okay if you’ve never had a date. On Earth, being out under the stars could be considered the date,” Dave murmurs softly. “I don’t mind if you consider this one.”

You turn to look at him, your mouth gaping open a little bit. Dave is staring up at the stars, his eyes still frustratingly hidden by his sunglasses. Even though the lights are dim, the twinkling of the stars reflecting onto his face shows a light blush dusting his skin. You feel as if his admission was probably accidental. You gently bump his leg again so he’ll look at you.

“Thanks for showing me this,” you tell him sincerely. “It’s really something.”

“Anytime,” Dave replies and snatches the ball off the table.

The holograph abruptly ends and the two of you are left sitting in the dark.

“I should get back to bed,” Dave says. “The others will be home soon and I don’t feel like getting a lecture from Dirk while I feel like shit.”

“Feel better, Dave.”

He nods and exits the kitchen leaving you alone in the dark kitchen wondering what the hell just happened.

* * *

 

“It occurs to me that, for all this time that you’ve been here, you’ve never seen the _Rogue_ ,” Roxy says over dinner.

“I’ve heard enough stories to make my own picture,” you grouse, but you’re interested in the ship the humans all speak so highly of.

“After dinner, you and me,” Roxy says, winking. “As the official Captain and all.”

“Maybe that makes you overqualified,” John cuts in. “I mean should the important Captain Lalonde be demoted to lowly tour guide?”

“But the _Rogue_ is my baby,” Roxy retorts. “I’ll always love showing her off to people.”

“And that’s something that’s got us into trouble more than once,” Dirk points out.

Roxy pouts at him.

“I know you’re equally as happy to show her off as well,” Roxy counters.

Dirk merely shrugs in response and goes back to his meal. You’re plate is cleared and so is Roxy’s. This doesn’t escape her notice at all.

“You’re done – let’s go!” Roxy says, jumping up.

“You don’t have to go if you don’t want to,” Rose tells you. “Roxy can certainly wait a few days until the mood strikes you for an overly enthusiastic tour. Maybe give yourself some time to prepare for the undertaking.”

“I should just get it over with,” you sigh and stand up to join Roxy. “If I don’t come back assume the worst.”

“You will be missed,” Dave says offering you a mock salute.

“Ignore them, my tours are fun!” Roxy exclaims and grabs you by the arm.

She drags you all the way to the port, chattering inanely about the technology the _Rogue_ has. It’s the best cloaking technology in the galaxy and with the addition of the new stealth technology it will be a true Rogue of Void.

On the outside, the ship is nothing short of impressive. It’s painted dark blue with a symbol you’ve seen embroidered onto each member of the crew’s clothes in some form. The ship is made even more impressive knowing that Dirk, Jane, and Roxy built it out of a burnt out husk of a former bandit ship they found in the scrap yard. The exterior is sleek and edgy. It’s nowhere near the caliber of design of the Empire vessels but still much higher quality than a bandit ship in wild space.

Roxy hits a code into the outside and hull door hisses open. She bounds up the walkway without waiting for you to follow. It takes a little longer for you to head in since you’re busy taking in the exterior of the _Rogue._ Eventually, you enter the ship finding yourself situated in the hull.

A ladder leads upward with a door is hidden behind it. You can hear the faint humming of a warp core. The wall is lined with a variety of tools and rifles, easy for storage and kept out of the way.

“Behind the door is the warp core,” Roxy explains. “Don’t tell anyone, but Jane stole it from the space station above us, so it’s one of the best models we can get our hands on.”

“She stole it?”

“When the Station was functional and not mostly abandoned because of the rebellion,” Roxy says proudly. “Who knew Janey was such a badass? Anyway, Jane use to be our mechanic and maintained the warp core and energy systems but since she’s retired John and Dirk split those duties. John’s the only one who really gets the warp core. He kind of breathes life into the ship by keeping it running. I would show you, but he gets kind of touchy when other people mess around with his system.”

“I didn’t know John was good with that kind of stuff, he seems kind of clueless,” you offer.

“He’s hopeless when it comes to coding and running all other stuff about the ship. The core though – he’s fucking brilliant.”

Roxy then grabs the rope ladder leading upwards and quickly scales it with practiced ease. It takes you a couple goes, your feet getting tangled several times. Due to the material of the ladder, you have a fear of the ladder breaking up underneath you. Roxy mostly looks amused when you finally manage to arrive on the next floor.

“Don’t fucking say anything,” you hiss.

She puts her hands up in surrender and turns around. The small area you climbed up into opens into a larger room with a table at the centre. Past that is the cockpit, home to the steering and navigational systems. Off to each side of the main room are small corridors. The interior is lit well and it appears very natural, instead of hollow light.

“The main conference room or where we eat,” Roxy explains as she walks through it. “The more exciting stuff is in the cockpit.”

You follow into the cockpit and Roxy flops into the pilot’s chair. The system is one that you don’t recognize

“Jade’s our pilot,” Roxy says. “She and Jake adapted the steering system from the rudimentary one Dirk and Jane installed. Jake had all this information from the ships that the Sovereignty uses as well as troll tech so they put this together. I think Dave knows how to use it too, since he’s up here, as the navigator, but probably not as well as Jade. She’s a goddamn genius, a flying ace. She’s been there bail us out more than once.”

You turn to look at the navigator’s consol. Something about it rings out ‘Dave.’ It also has a very unique appearance and the systems are unrecognizable to you.

“Dave has some bullshit method of mapping the stars,” Roxy sighs dramatically. “He’s the only fucking person who can read his maps. Still, he can also instantly understand cryptic ones all the baddies use.”

“What do you do aboard the ship? Other than captaining I mean.”

“I’m the hacker,” Roxy says grinning deviously and points at a comm unit tucked into the back wall of the cockpit. “Ain’t a system that can keep me out.”

“How did you all learn these things? Skaia isn’t exactly the epitome of technological advancement.”

“Harsh words about my home, K, but Jane, Dirk, Jake, and I worked at a scrap yard for a long time. We picked up a bunch of our skills messing around with the scrap and fixing it up. Jake learned a bunch of his piloting garbage when he left us for the military, but made up for it by bringing it back when the war ended. Put it to his own use though. Stole a ship and nearly had his ass arrested by the Empire.”

Roxy looks thoughtful for a moment before leaping off and heading back to the main room and into the left corridor. She shoves one door open and shows you a tiny kitchen. There many doors crammed along the corridor.

“Since we’ve got to live on board,” she explains. “We’ve only got four incredibly tiny rooms though. “I get my own since I’m the captain. Jade and Rose share, Dirk gets his own, and Dave and John share. I’d show them to you but I’m ‘fraid that would be an extreme invasion of their privacy. Each room has bunk beds built into the wall and two really tiny storage units – it’s not much. We decorate them as much we can, but it’s kind of hard with a lack of space.”

“I don’t really have a desire to see the messy rooms you keep anyway,” you reply.

“Dirk’s the only real slob and that’s because he’s always got a million projects going on," Roxy says, sounding vaguely insulted at the implication, but you've seen her room back at the house. "Speaking of Dirk and his projects, let’s check out the other side.”

Roxy heads across the ship to the opposite corridor. There are far fewer doors, giving it a less cramped appearance. She pushes the first one open and shows you a workshop filled with half built devices and tools scattered everywhere.

“Dirk’s our engineer,” Roxy says. “Keeps the _Rogue_ in tip top shape and designs new gizmos to make her better all the time. His workshop in the inn is much more impressive, but we’ve only got so much space on the _Rogue_. Despite his lack of formal education, Dirk’s probably the smartest person I know.”

“What’s the difference between Jane and Dirk’s jobs?”

“Jane fixes things and Dirk builds them, sometimes they design together. Their jobs can be interchangeable but Dirk’s just a whole hell of a lot better at making crazy stuff. Jane’s been the one who cleans up our messes, so it makes sense that she can fix things,” Roxy explains and shuts the door.

She pushes another door open and in it reveals a fairly large room, which has large windows instead of metal walls. There are a few old couches filling the space and bookshelves tucked against the wall. You think the cabinet tucked off to the side might be filled with various types of alcohol based on types of bottles you can make out through the glass of the cabinet door.

“The rec room,” Roxy says. “When we’re in transit to some place and have extra people, we give them this space. Sometimes we just have wild parties. Washroom is tucked off to the side there,” she points to a door in the back left corner, “but it’s a bit of a waste to carry water for showers, especially when on Skaia it isn’t really a priority to be clean.”

“What does Rose do?” you ask, noticing that she has yet to be brought up, other than where she sleeps.

“I was getting there! Impatient much? There’s another room on this side,” Roxy replies, rolling her eyes.

She leaves the rec room and pushes open the final door. It reveals a very tiny office with a desk and a bookshelf behind it.

“Rosie’s office,” Roxy announces. “She’s the archivist.”

“She keeps records?”

“When the kids were all younger, they all wanted to fight space pirates – it was pretty cute – but not Rosie. She was more about writing, but she never wanted to be apart from the others. So she started to keep records, figured someone needs to know the shit the _Rogue_ ’s been through. Has everything from the building of the _Rogue_ to Jane’s retirement as captain to our last trip. She’s pretty good at keep up with it all.”

“All those books – are your history?”

“She’s a little wordy.”

You laugh a bit at that.

“It’s a pretty amazing ship,” you say.

“The tour isn’t finished yet! I haven’t even shown you the best part of the _Rogue_ ,” Roxy says and she heads back to the main room.

You take your time following her, giving Rose’s room one last look over before going to find Roxy. She’s seated at the central table and has pulled out a communications unit and is rapidly typing into it.

“Take a seat,” she tells you, patting the chair next to her.

You sit down and look around the space, trying to find what Roxy claims is the best part of the ship. She presses a few more buttons and offers a small ‘aha!’ before looking upwards. You follow her line of sight and see that the roof is receding to reveal a skylight above.

“It be a little more impressive if there wasn’t just a metal ceiling above us,” Roxy murmurs. “Makes for a killer sight when you’re up there.”

You can imagine that it would be beautiful. Troll ships have no room for such frivolities. The Spartan ships used during the rebellion were made for one thing and one thing only. Even Feferi’s personal cruiser is void of any flair.

“Why the name?” you ask, looking back down and turning to look at Roxy.

Her pink eyes meet yours evenly.

“I was born on Derse and my family was pretty important but we weren’t _that_ important. I kind of felt useless, especially when I met Dirk ‘cause he was a pretty big deal back on Derse. Then we came to Skaia after the exodus and met Jane and Jake,” Roxy begins. “I just felt like we always had this big hole in our hearts after the loss of our homes and it turns out we all felt pretty useless. We lost our homes and there was nothing we could do about it – we were supposed to be the leaders and instead all our people ended up here on Skaia.

“So we’ve got this big space in our hearts and then we build this ship with the big idea that we’re going to help the people of Skaia. We’re going to go off into wild space or the Empire or maybe even back to Earth and just get what they need. At first it was really hard to steal things because other people needed them too. But the ship became like this beacon of hope and life and soul for the people of Skaia, _our people,_ and maybe we weren’t really stealing supplies, but we were taking the void from our people’s hearts, and our own and filling it with life and hope again. Skaia could be our home. And I’m rambling, sorry.”

“No it’s fine, it’s a good name. So she’s the _Rogue of Void_ cause she takes away the nothingness?”

“Pretty much, it’s a bit of stretch, but I thought it sounded cool when I came up with it.”

“Sounds pretty dangerous, maybe you should just keep the sappy origin story to yourself.”

Roxy gives you a light punch in the shoulder.

“You’re not that bad, K,” Roxy says. “Sorry I tried to shoot you when we first met.”

“I’ve had worse first meetings.”

Roxy throws her head back and lets out a full laugh.

“You’re older than Dave, John, Jade, and Rose right?” you ask suddenly.

“Yeah. Practically raised Rose myself when we arrived on Skaia. Same with Dave. Dirk and I were kind of like their parents instead of siblings since ours were dead. John, Jade, and Jane have a similar relationship. Jake was always more of the dopey uncle and could never be too strict when raising the kids. Jake’s the oldest though – by two years – and Jane, Dirk, and I are older than the other four by five years. Why do you ask?”

“You never mentioned them in the building of the _Rogue_ ,” you answer. “When did you let them join the crew?”

“When they turned 18,” Roxy says shrugging. “Couldn’t keep away from the _Rogue_ for much longer. It was their ship as much as ours. We built it for them too since they are in included in our people. Our responsibility.”

“Must have been hard.”

“Sure was. They were kids we had been protecting and raising for years and now we would be taking them with us to fight bandits in wild space. Dirk was all about training Dave from a young age, but I couldn’t be rough with Rosie like that. However, they prove themselves more than capable everyday.”

The two of you fall into a comfortable silence. You have much more information to think about now. The pieces of the humans’ story fall together more and more each day. There is some guilt as you root for their story since you’re not being honest about your own, but you can mostly ignore it since your story would get you and all the humans killed. Their story seems less harmless and more like they’re typical refugees.

“We should get back though,” Roxy finally says. “As much as I love the _Rogue_ , I want to enjoy my time on Skaia before I’m back out there.”

Roxy hits a few commands on the comm unit and the roof slides back shut, hiding the skylight again. You manage to get down the rope ladder without too much issue and bid the ship goodbye as Roxy closes it back up.

Your conversation on the way back to the inn is calm and friendly, like you’re old friends. Roxy tells you fond memories about building the _Rogue_ and how difficult it was to get all the pieces together. Jake was in the military at the time and often risked dishonourable discharge by slipping them designs and parts to rebuild it.

The calm is immediately broken when you return to the inn. The others have started a game of Monopoly and already John is accusing Dave of cheating. Roxy gives a brief sigh before jumping right in and pestering Dave about his apparently rampant cheating record.

You take a seat beside Jane and watch as the game unfolds, watching them all fondly.

You’re actually going to miss this place when you have to go back home.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karkat learns the culture and lore of Skaia while struggling to come to terms with his missing home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew!! I wish this was out a lot sooner but I've been absolutely exhausted working through some things and unable to put the effort into editing that this story needs. 
> 
> This chapter was actually supposed to be the entirety of the fic. The original document was entitled ‘hold my hand, fucker.’ 
> 
> There is also a wildly and unnecessarily complicated explanation that uses some math that plays fast and loose with the laws of math. If you're a mathematician, I'm sorry and I know it's absurd! But if you want me to explain it further I will (send me an ask on tumblr - available at the bottom). I have diagrams from when I was developing it myself.
> 
> (A great song to listen to is 'Prospitian Folklore' or the Genesis Frog album in general if you have that from the HS Bandcamp!)

Jake returns very early in the morning. You’ve always been an early riser. A life of knowing you were going to die when you reached adulthood does that to a troll. As such, you wake even earlier than the humans. You spend the blissful moments alone in the main room of the inn, reading another book Jane has loaned you. These mornings also give Jane the ability to sleep in and you deal with the guests who sign out at dawn.

You were not expecting Jake to return so early. He stumbles in through the front door, eyes heavy and hair messy. You think he’s been flying non-stop since he left. He’s loyal, as much as a human can be, to Feferi’s Empire and probably in a great deal of danger.

“It’s not good, K,” Jake confirms your assumptions while stumbling up to the bar and taking a seat. “Your people are losing – this is a much larger ordeal than any of us could’ve fathomed. I’ve been on the lam since I left.”

His face hits the counter with a _thud_ and your heart echoes the noise in response to Jake’s words. Your friends are in trouble and you’re just sitting here, enjoying early mornings and reading books.

“I did manage this to get your secret message across enemy lines,” Jake murmurs and pulls a crumpled piece of his paper out of his pocket. “Your moirail.”

You take it with shaking hands. Who knows what it says? Is Kanaya safe? Is she feeling the same great deal of regret and fear that you are? Your grip tightens on the paper.

“Go to sleep, Jake,” you order.

Jake shakes his head.

“I must stay awake for my friends – I don’t want to delay this reunion any longer,” he mumbles tiredly. “They get rambunctious when I’m home but squirrel myself away.”

“I’m sure they’d understand.”

Jake shakes his head and his eyes flutter shut. You guess he’s just going to sleep on the counter until the others wake up. You shake your head and move away to give him some space, but also to read the letter from Kanaya in private.

You unfold the paper delicately, your hands trembling as you do so. However, just seeing Kanaya’s neat, flowing script calms you immensely. It wasn’t written hastily, she had enough to time to think and write it out. She wrote you a great deal, detailing her own escape from the palace and how she was taken to a colony on the very edge of the Empire. She’s safe and has found a job as a seamstress to blend in and keep her busy.

Kanaya expresses that she is greatly relieved knowing that you, too, are safe. However, she can’t help the feeling of apprehension in her chest knowing that all your friends are in danger.

You read the letter over multiple times, each time staring at the ‘<> Kanaya’ at the bottom. After you feel like you’ve adequately memorized it, you tuck it away in your back pocket for safekeeping. It feels both like a lead weight – a burdening reminder of who you really are – and a freeing letter – letting know that Kanaya is as safe as you are.

Once the letter is safe in your pocket, the door to the side house opens and Jade enters the room. It’s not unusual for Jade to be the first human awake since she tends to go to sleep much earlier than the rest. She is about to greet you but sees Jake sleeping on the counter and her eyes immediately go wide. Jade runs over to him, shaking him from his brief rest.

“Jake! Jake!” she exclaims, voice gleeful.

Jake wakes up and sleepily grins at her before opening his arms. Jade fits between them and grips Jake’s jacket tightly. You almost feel like you’re intruding on such an intimate moment. Jade told you awhile back, that although Jane was mostly responsible for raising her, she felt closest to Jake out of all the older humans. It’s clear his absence hurts her dearly.

“How long are you going to stay for?” Jade asks after the embrace ends.

“There’s a bit of an issue in the Empire,” Jake says. “I’m a fugitive at the moment so until it’s all cleared up, I’m all yours.”

Jade turns to look at you meaningfully, worry etched into her expression. Jake gives you a bewildered look.

“You told her?”

You open your mouth to tell that it ‘kind of sucked being around a bunch of Empire hating humans and it was easier having one person know as to avoid Empire conversations in the future’ when the door opens again.

“Told her what?” Dirk questions and all three of you turn to face him.

He looks vastly unimpressed, arms crossed. Dirk isn’t wearing his shades but his eyes are almost completely blank. Jade steps back from Jake.

“I’m waiting,” Dirk replies, but he’s staring at Jake.

“It’s nothing important, Dirk, just some stories about my work in the Empire,” Jake says quickly.

Dirk’s eyes narrow and you wonder just what the hell happened between them. Dirk often seems uncomfortable around the topic of Jake, generally avoiding it all together.

“I’m glad you’re back,” Dirk says and he disappears back through the door.

You don't think he sounded very glad to have Jake back.

“He’s an enigma, that Dirk,” Jake says sighing.

“You should probably go talk to him,” Jade offers. “You didn’t exactly leave on the best of terms last time.”

“I was being arrested, Jade! I didn’t exactly have a chance to say goodbye!” Jake says defensively.

“After he told you _not_ to break into the high security space port,” Jade retorts.

Jake sighs once again and makes a dramatic show of getting up from the bar. He gives Jade a pathetic look, begging her to not make him do this.

“Bullied by my younger cousin,” he bemoans. “Even after I flew non-stop to get here and see her.”

“I can wait. Go deal with your estranged boyfriend,” she says, shooing him with her hands.

Jake nods solemnly and shuffles towards the door. Jade takes his vacated spot once the door shuts behind him. She sighs deeply.

“He can be so dramatic about it,” she mutters.

“What’s the deal with him?” you ask. “He and Jane were arguing about Dirk when I arrived on Skaia.”

“Jake never liked being on Skaia as much as he loves the people on it,” Jade explains sadly. “Especially with the big reminder of his home looming above us. So when he turned 18, he joined the military. Obviously that caused a big fight between the older ones because Jake would be leaving us and he could die out there. If he died out there, since we lived on Skaia and it’s been abandoned by the Sovereignty, we’d never know. We’d be in an eternal limbo wondering if he died or just left us completely.

“The war ended and Jake came home, but he wasn’t the same. He was restless and couldn’t stand being on Skaia at all anymore. Before, he was at least tolerating it for us. Jake was always trying to get off. Then about a year ago, he made plans to break in and blow the Prospit station up. Instead he was nearly caught and escaped in those high-speed stealth pods. The Empress pardoned him in return for his for his service to the Empire. A human pilot would do a world of good for human-troll relations.

“He and Dirk have always been – complicated. But deep down they love each other so much that it pains me to see them be so miserable when they’re apart. Dirk has a duty to his people here on Skaia and Jake can’t even stand being here. So they do this dance. They fight, Jake leaves, Jake comes back, they make-up, and then Jake has to leave again so they fight. We all miss Jake so much when he isn’t here, but we understand his pain.”

You can’t even begin to make out what Jake must be feeling. There’s an opening in Jade’s story though. She trusts you and you trust her, having told her your own secrets. Perhaps you can use it to learn more about what the humans of Skaia are hiding.

“What do you mean by ‘our people?’” you ask carefully. “All of you always say it. That you have a duty to them.”

“I was wondering when you were going to ask me,” Jade muses and then carefully thinks over what she’s going to say next. “The Carapacians long ago foretold that humans would arrive on Derse and Prospit and lead them into an age of prosperity. For years, the humans did. Then the war started and Derse and Prospit met their ends. The eight humans in this house right now are the last humans of Derse and Prospit. Our parents and a few others who came with us in the exoduses, have all died. Now, the Carapacians look to us for guidance and one day we will give them a safe home again.”

Jade is quiet for a while. She has a thoughtful look on her face. You think that she might be weighing if she should tell you more or not. The last humans of Prospit and Derse – their secret is one that could get them killed. There are plenty of trolls loyal to the old Empire that would kill them to finish the work of the former Empress.

“Jane and Dirk feel the failure the deepest,” Jade finally says. “Dirk was the prince on Derse, he was supposed to lead the Dersites. Even though his kingdom is gone, his people still exist and are suffering. Jane may not be the princess of Prospit – governance was a different – but she was still meant to lead them. The burdens weigh so heavily on their shoulders. John, Rose, Dave, and I – we will never know the pain that the older ones feel even though it isn’t their failure.”

“The Nobles of Prospit and Derse,” you say with wonder. “The Empress thought you were dead! If she knew –“

“You cannot tell her we’re alive,” Jade interrupts. “It would bring our enemies here! The painstaking steps, the lives _lost_ , to get the eight of us here on Skaia and out of the Empire’s eyes would all be lost. I’m sorry, K, but you have to keep this a secret. That’s why we didn’t tell you before. We were afraid you’d tell the trolls and bring our enemies to Skaia.”

“I won’t tell anyone,” you promise. “What about the festival you keep talking about? Is that why you’re all so vague?”

“The festival is a celebration of our freedom from the troll occupation in which we take the time to celebrate who we use to be on Prospit and Derse. Explaining the festival would mean telling you our secrets,” Jade explains and then she gets a huge grin on her face. “But I don’t want to tell you too much about it regardless! I want it to be a fun surprise as you experience everything for the first time.”

The door opens and John peeks his head out. Has that much time passed already? John is usually the last person awake. Or maybe the early arrival of Jake has everyone geared up.

“Breakfast is ready,” he calls, giving you both a wide, goofy grin. “And Jake’s back!”

You follow behind Jade into the kitchen. Everyone is there, including Jake and Dirk. There seems to be little tension, so maybe the two have already cleared up some of their issues. You tuck yourself between Jade and Dave and just watch the humans interact with Jake reinserted into the dynamic.

Mostly, you also want to contemplate this new information Jade has finally shared with you. You’re in the company of the Nobles and Royalty of Prospit and Derse. These eight humans were assumed dead and lost in the war, as all the humans on the planet were. Feferi could use them in creating alliances with the human colonies on the edges of the Empire. The apparent deaths of the humans on Derse and Prospit is one of the major contributing factors to the Sovereignty abandoning Skaia.  

Jade shared this information because she trusted you, however. You won’t break her trust.

Many things start to fall together knowing their history. The duty they all feel to their people and everything Roxy shared with you. It makes sense now.

“Hey,” Dave says, elbowing you lightly. “For a shouty guy, you’re pretty quiet this morning. Everything okay?”

As Dirk’s brother, Dave is technically royalty too. You’re just a lowly mutant blooded troll. As a dignitary you know to deeply respect and understand other species’ types of governance. You start to feel humbled to be with these people, like you do when you sit on the council or Feferi asks to privately speak with you.

“What did you tell him?” Dave asks Jade after you failed to respond. “I think you broke our troll.”

“Just who we are,” Jade replies, shrugging.

“You did what?” Jane nearly screeches, her eyes going wide.

“Jane, it’s fine. K won’t tell anyone,” Jade assures her. “And it’s not like you were being exactly subtle about it. I just helped him finish the picture.”

“You’ve got the ‘I’m literally in the presence of royalty look.’ I knew it was familiar. That’s just great, not like I get that from literally every other person living on this planet,” Dave rants, sounding annoyed. “I’ll let you in on a little secret, K. Dirk’s the only prince here. I was going to be a knight. And you already treat Dirk like he’s royalty ‘cause I’m pretty sure you’re scared of him. The rest of us are just regular Joes who happened to be kind of important on some dead planets. It doesn’t matter anymore.”

You raise an eyebrow and look at Dave. He looks completely sincere. Jane and Dirk both make tiny noises of protest at Dave’s great sweeping dismissal of the importance of Prospit and Derse.

“It’s just a lot to process,” you admit. “I’m in the presence of the Humans of Derse and Prospit – you are all like legends in the Empire. When word got out that the former Empress has killed all the humans of Prospit and Derse – many trolls who were hoping for peace with the humans lost hope. But there were also rumours that slipped through that some may have survived.”

“You never mentioned this, Jake!” John says, turning to look at Jake.

“I don’t think Jake exactly goes around looking for rumours about his supposed dead self,” Rose adds. “But I suppose you must have run into a story or two.”

Jake shrugs and a light blush dusts his cheeks.

“It’s kind of weird hearing trolls of all people talking about you,” Jake admits. “But we inspire hope outside of Skaia and that’s kind of nice.”

The table erupts in jubilant chaos but you don’t miss the look that Jane and Dirk share. An uneasy feeling settles in your stomach. You just know Dirk and Jane are aware of the rumours. Everything the two of them do is to protect Jade, John, Dave, and Rose. Their lives would be irreparably changed if it got out they were still alive. The two of them know a lot more about what goes on in the Empire than they let one. It’s definitely not Jake who’s sharing the information. And Jane had mentioned having spoken to Feferi when you arrived. So despite their apparent distrust for the Empire and the deal to keep Empire forces off of Skaia, are Dirk and Jane allied with Feferi?

“We belong on Skaia,” Dirk reasserts, bringing order to the table. “The less the trolls know about us, the better. It would bring our old enemies to Skaia and hurt the Carapacians.”

Everyone settles immediately. You narrow your eyes at Dirk. If your suspicions about Dirk and Jane are true, he should’ve known better than those callous comments he made about Feferi a while back. Dirk doesn’t react to your hostility.

“Maybe one day,” Roxy says quietly. “One day we won’t have to be afraid.”

The air gets serious quickly and each human has a determined look on their face. These are the Nobles of Derse and Prospit and one day they’ll give their people a safe life. More importantly, the eight won’t have to live in fear of being discovered by agents of the Condesce. You want to help them realize that dream as much as possible. It was once your life and you know it's hell to live.

* * *

All you can see is the bodies of your friends, their blood staining the dark surroundings. Their blood is on your hands because while they all fought you ran and hid like a coward. You jerk awake when your friends’ bloody bodies start reaching for you, screeching at you that this is all your fault. The moment Jake arrived you should’ve begged him to take you back. They need you.

You sit up in bed, letting the sheets pool around your waist. The blankets are tangled around your legs. You really fucking hate the human contraption that is the bed.

The moon of Skaia and the giant space station loom above. They two shine together to illuminate your room. You run your hands through your omnipresent messy hair and let out a shaky sigh.

“Fuck, I wish I had sopor,” you mutter, dragging your hand across your face and down to yank the covers away.

The dreams have been coming less frequently, but more intense as an exchange. This one was particularly realistic with the empty dead eyes and bloodstains. It’s not even as if seeing your friend’s blood is anything new – but seeing their unmoving corpses as well is completely unsettling.

Pushing yourself out of bed, you decide to head outside for a breath of fresh air. The tiny inn room is stifling and the air is completely stagnant.

The wooden floorboards creak under your feet as you move from your room on the second floor to the entrance on the first. The inn is eerily quiet at night with only the dim moonlight outlining the tables. You prefer it when everyone is out here squabbling with each other – even if the arguments piss you off more often than not.

Opening the door, the cool night air rushes in and immediately sucks away the sticky heat of your room. The moonlight passes through the branches of the Last Tree, creating a unique pattern along the packed dirt ground of the square.

There are no chairs outside, so you make your way to the trunk of the tree and sit down with your back against it. You’ve never really taken the time to admired the painting on the outside. After seeing how Dave draws in Can Town, even if his scribbles are better than yours, you’re not really sure if you can believe he painted the mural. There is so much detail and care that went into the painting. Sometimes it can be hard to see that Dave is capable of more than just whatever his brain produces at that exact moment in time.

You jump slightly when the door to the inn opens and you see Dave staring at you. Bizarrely, he’s still wearing those shades. You’re not actually sure why you were even surprised in the first place.

“What the fuck are you doing out here?” you demand as he makes his way over.

“I could ask you the same thing,” he says, eyebrows rising.

You cross your arms and frown up at him. Dave takes it in stride and instead looks up to grab at the pink leaves of the tree.

“I heard the stairs creaking and then the door closing so I came to check it out,” Dave explains as he pulls a leaf off. “Visitors from wild space tend to rob the inn in the middle of the night.”

“I needed some air, my room as too hot,” you inform him, not really lying but not telling the full truth either.

Dave gives you a face that says ‘I know that’s bullshit but I’m not going to push.’ He turns the leaf over in his palm before dropping it to the ground. The two of you watch it flutter to the ground in complete silsnce. Dave then moves to sit next you, his gangly legs bumping into yours as he tucks himself against you.

“You learned a lot of shit today,” Dave exhales and runs a hand through his hair. “And I don’t blame you for being overwhelmed about it. I mean sometimes I just think ‘shit, I’m actually space royalty,’ but like that doesn’t mean I’m a different Dave than I was yesterday. All Daves are the same, regardless if I was born on Earth or was actually raised as a Prince.

“We’re all just normal people here and we live normal lives on Skaia. I don’t want you treating me like you treat your Empress ‘cause I was born as royalty on Derse. Dirk may act all high and mighty sometimes and make princely demands, but he was a prince in training on Derse for sometime. I get enough shit from the Carapacians and the others, but I don’t want our friendship to change because you found out that I once wore some purple pjs and might have had a kingdom.”

You don’t really want to tell Dave that’s not why you’re upset, but it’s something that is clearly bothering him so you roll with it. There is also a part of you that feels guilty for not telling Dave your own secret. Even if you know Dave would absolutely treat you differently if he knew you were so high up in the Empire.

“I’m not going to treat you differently,” you assure him. “It’s just, as you said, a lot to take in.”

Dave sighs in obvious relief. The two of you settle against each other, enjoying each other’s company. The cool air combined with the Dave’s steady breathing grounds you and causes the dream to fade far back into your mind.

“Jane says you painted the mural,” you say after some time.

Dave turns to look at it and shrugs slightly.

“I guess I did, back when I painted,” he says.

“You don’t anymore?”

“I have something much better to do with my time.”

“And what would that be?”

“I’ll show you.”

Dave stands abruptly and you hate how much you miss his body next to yours. He offers you his hand to help you up. You take it and give him a questioning look.

“What are you doing?”

“Just shut up and follow me,” Dave says.

He heads toward the street that exits the square. You hurry to follow after him, interested in what Dave wants to show you. The Carapacian district of Skaia surrounds the long street that leads into the square and the Last Tree. Most of the refugees from Derse and Prospit settled in this area. Carapacians and humans, originating from the colonists, mostly populate the other districts with the occasional pocket of other species.

It doesn’t take long for you to realize he’s leading you to the port and thus the _Rogue._

When you arrive at the port, it’s completely empty. It makes the whole trip seem illicit. Dave continues into the hangar where the _Rogue_ is and quickly enters the code to open the hull. The hiss fills the entire port and you tense, as if someone will arrive and arrest you. But in some form, Dave owns the ship and he’s considered royalty by most of the inhabitants of Skaia – even by the humans who never lived on Derse or Prospit. He could probably get away with anything.

“Do you do this often?” you ask, slightly unimpressed with Dave’s late night shenanigans.

Dave smirks at you and quickly hops up onto the walkway, disappearing into the ship. You look around for any sign of law enforcement before following Dave onto the ship. He’s already up the rope ladder and on the main floor of the _Rogue_ when you enter the hull. Like last time, you struggle with the rungs, but ultimately it’s a much shorter struggle than before.

“Shut up,” you mutter when you pull yourself up and notice Dave watching you with amusement.

Watching Dave aboard the _Rogue_ is unlike watching him in the inn or even Can Town. He’s completely at ease here. His fingers trace the table in the central area before heading to the cockpit. This ship is like an extension of him. You’re willing to bet it’s the same way with the others as well.

You continue to follow him into the cockpit where Dave settles himself into the navigator chair. He types a few quick commands and opens up a holographic projection of what you think is a star chart. The star distances are presented in a manner that is completely unfamiliar to you. It’s like you’re just looking at a graph with dots on it instead of a star chart.

“This is what I do now,” Dave says and expands the graph with his hands. “I’m beginning to map out some of the areas of wild space better. That way I can do less work when we’re out there.”

“These are impossible to read,” you say as you reaching out to touch one of the stars. “These aren’t distances between them at all.”

“It’s time,” Dave explains. “Distance is meaningless out in space. You can say travel 2.3 light years but with a warp core – you can’t control the distance, it’s about how long it’s operational. That’s where I got this idea.”

“This is us here at zero,” Dave explains pointing at the graph before trailing his hand along the x-axis. “And you follow the amount of time you want the warp core running for on the x-axis. The y-axis is directly relational to the amount of time it takes for Skaia, or the local planet or station if I change the area, to orbit its sun. Each increment is a day on Skaia.  That gives the one direction into space. The zero on the y represents the arbitrary start point I selected in the local planet’s orbit of the sun. The orbit then takes on a clock appearance and I select a time for one direction into space.

“The z-axis is based on the rotational systems of the _Rogue_ itself paired with the flat ground of this port. So right now we’re at 3 on the clock – or parallel with the ground. I turned that into a bit of a clock as well. That’s the other directionality of it, since space is 3D. But the z is completely dependant of the y axis since you turn to match the orbit and then tilt from there.

“This graphical version translates into a spherical formation where it’s like two perpendicular circles working to create a globe. Together they pinpoint a singular place, while the x-axis creates the actual size of the globe. One point in space could have multiple coordinates in this fashion too.”

“That’s surprisingly unique and clever. Somewhat complicated though.”

“I developed it myself,” Dave says proudly. “That way if anybody gets a hold of our charts for whatever reason, it would take them forever to figure it out. Especially if they want to trace us back to Skaia. But it’s easily reconfigured to something more traditional with a little tweaking. They're much easier to make than traditional star maps, I just have to get the data from the _Rogue_ from the equilibrium and balance systems, remember how long the warp core was on and bam! There it is. The longest part is setting the arbitrary points on the local planet. Traditional star maps require so much more math.”

After typing a few commands into the computer, Dave reaches into the hologram and flicks his wrist. The jumble of stars toss themselves into an arrangement that is more familiar to you. Although you still don’t recognize where the stars belong, you could navigate with this map.

“Here I’ll bring up another map, one of the Empire, and highlight Skaia on it,” Dave says quickly pulls open another map. You quickly recognize it as Empire space. He colours one marker bright blue. “And then turn it back to what it’s supposed to be.”

You watch as Skaia turns into a tiny blue dot off at the edge of the hologram.

“This is the capital as zero,” Dave explains. “We’re almost falling off the map. Most Empire charts don’t include Skaia, most human charts are the same. Better to keep Skaia off the grid than risk it being exploited by either party.”

“How exactly do you use these? It accomplishes keeping your star maps a secret, but is nearly impossible to quickly navigate with.”

“I’m glad you asked – this is the best part,” Dave says and taps a few commands into the console.

The map switches back to first one, with Skaia at the zero point before pulling itself together into a sphere. A tiny hologram of the _Rogue_ sits at the center.

“This is the spherical form I was talking about earlier. I don’t always use this form, but it’s easier to convey to Jade where we need to go if for some reason we need a redirection or the autonav system have failed. It only works if I have a specific star chart where the _Rogue_ is at the center or near center. This version breaks if the _Rogue_ isn’t at the zero point I set.”

“I want to go to Alternia,” you instruct.

“Bossy,” Dave teases, letting out a brief laugh.

“Just do it,” you huff.

Dave turns to face the console completely and types a few commands into the console.

“What are you doing?” you demand. “You brought me out here to see what you do, so explain.”

“I’m opening the grid format on the screen here and selecting the Alternia marker, which has a special code that only I know,” Dave says and then the tiny _Rogue_ in the hologram spins and flips upwards while the globe itself explodes to fill the cockpit. “There. Our route to Alternia.”

“How does Jade understand this?”

“Normally, I don’t have the hologram fill the place. That would just be distracting. Once we’ve launched, I read the coordinates from the graph off to Jade and input them into my console. The data is then sent to Jade telling her angles and matching them with the _Rogue_ ’s equilibrium system. Jade will approve it and she can either do it manually or just let the _Rogue’_ s systems do the work. It really depends on the situation.”

Dave turns off the consol and swings around to face you.

“It’s all about time,” he murmurs. “Not a distance, but time. Even regular star maps are rooted in the amount of time. Distance is worthless when we travel so far.”

You look at Dave in awe. He is truly a master at what he does. A lump forms in your throat as the admiration you have for him threatens to boil over. Right now Dave is absolutely open to you. It fills your heart with red affection.

“We should probably head back,” you say, forcing the words out.

“Yeah,” he agrees and yawns briefly. “I just got to shut the systems down, you go on ahead. I’ll see you in the morning.”

You quickly exit the _Rogue_ and you’re far too tired to over think the rope ladder. Instead of heading back to the inn, you wait for Dave. It takes him about five minutes before he’s walking down the walkway and back on the ground. If he’s surprised you waited for him, he doesn’t show it. However, after he closes up the _Rogue_ he bumps your shoulder affectionately and the two of you begin walking back to the inn.

You press close to him, not for warmth, but just because you enjoy his nearness. Dave does the same. The walk back to the inn is entirely silent. You only break the silence when you’re at the front entrance.

“Thanks for showing me that,” you say honestly.

“I’m glad you liked it. The others think it’s overly complicated and unnecessary, but it’s what I like to do,” Dave replies and he’s rubbing the back of his neck again. “I’ll see you in the morning, I guess.”

“Good night, Dave.”

He nods once before entering the inn. You remain outside for a bit longer and try to remember how the _Rogue_ spun around in the tiny hologram. Maybe you can spot Alternia in the night sky here.  You give up when you realize that you know absolutely nothing about the star gazing. Maybe Dave could give you some pointers at a later time.

* * *

 

There’s a reason you don’t like running errands for Jane. The market at the centre of Skaia is where the entire population mingles together. Although the district with the inn, populated mostly by Carapacians, is (mostly) troll friendly there is still a very strong anti-troll sentiment held by large swathes of the human population as well as many of the other species. One comes to Skaia to escape the Empire, and escaping the Empire means ridding oneself of all trolls in their life.

You are used to be hated for being a mutant blood, but it doesn’t mean the glares and harsh words affect you any less. You hate admitting it, but you’re quite sensitive at heart. The market is unsettling for you.

However, there has been a sudden influx of people staying in the inn as the festival draws near. Skaians spread across the galaxy are returning home for the annual celebration. Jane is far too busy managing everyone at the inn to go out to the market, so she gave you a list of supplies needed and sent you on your way. Jade and John both offered to come with you but you turned them down because Jane needs their help more and you can handle carrying the few things you need to pick up.

The glares are more pointed today and the generally hushed words are being hurled outright. It’s only by the grace of association with Jane Crocker that they keep their distance. You pick up the things Jane sent you to buy, keep your head down, and hurry out of the market.

To get back to the inn, there’s a small alleyway that you had been shown on previous trips to the market. It’s especially useful today since the main streets are crowded with many different aliens joyously preparing for the festival.

“Hey!” someone shouts from behind you.

You’re tempted to just keep walking. It wouldn’t be out of character for you to be so rude, but you’re also operating under Jane’s name here. Your behaviour might reflect on her business. So you turn around to see a fairly large male human glaring at you. There are two more, a male and a female, flanking him.

“This is meant to be a festival of freedom, your kind should be nowhere on this planet,” he hisses. “Go back to where you came from, troll.”

The way he says it, it sounds like an insult. Perhaps on Skaia, it is since your species is hated so much.

“That’s not really an option,” you reply.

You’ve been spending too much time with Rose and Dave, who snark back far too frequently.

“You think you’re funny?” the man growls and lurches forward.

You stand your ground. You’re a troll, born and bred a warrior. You lived and breathed a rebellion. Three humans do not scare you.

“You’re not going to say anything? Typical troll scum, thinking you’re better than all of us,” the man says and reaches forward to grab your collar, everything you were carrying clatter to the ground.

You glare at him, meeting his eyes evenly. You don’t see where the knife comes from but you feel it as the man drags it across your skin. He smirks as a hiss of pain escapes from your mouth.

“Trolls have no place on Skaia,” he says and he turns back to his companions, nodding.

The first man shoves you to the ground and steps back. You make a move to get up and fight back, but the other two reach you first. They’re much larger than you and despite your strength you are still outnumbered.

The other two take over and start to beat you. Each fist is perfectly timed and aimed to maximize pain. They’ve clearly had practice beating up other trolls like this. You fight back savagely, trying to get them off of you. Your claws prove to be the most effective weapon and it’s a well-timed scratch to the face that causes the second man to recoil.

“What the fuck?” he shrieks, covering his face.

The woman gives you a couple more hard blows but you can easily wrestle her off now that she doesn’t have help. Knowing that fighting them more would only create a stronger hatred towards trolls, you book it out of the alley and leave behind the errands. Jane will understand. The humans shout angrily after you but don’t follow.

As you’re running, you feel a wetness against your skin and running down your face. You’re bleeding and the disgusting candy red of your blood is covering your body. Carapacians stare at you as emerge from the alley and into the square. Not even for a second do you stop though. You barrel into the inn and make a run for your room. The main area is busy and loud enough that it could possibly cover your tracks.

This not the case and someone does catch you. You barely get a chance to sit down before Dave is barreling into the room. He looks furious and for a brief a second you think he’s mad someone beat you up. The truth is, however, that his anger is directed at _you._ You jump up in shock at his arrival.

“What the _fuck_ did you do?” Dave growls as he gets up into your space.

He’s using his height to intimidate you, even though he has very little bulk. Unlike the humans who beat you, who didn’t scare you at all, Dave is frightening. Probably because he’s your friend and you’ve never seem him break very far from neutral.

“Your troll mind finally break and remember that you’re suppose to be killing the Carapacians instead of just living in peace with them?” he snaps and shoves you roughly.

He hits one of the sore spots and you wince. Dave either doesn’t notice or care about your pain.

“You think you can just hurry upstairs and hide the fact you’re covered in their blood?”

Oh. Carapacians have the same colour of blood as you. You knew that. You finally wrap your head around what is going on. Dave thinks you hurt the Carapacians. His people.

“It’s my blood jackass,” you growl at him, shoving him backwards and out of your space. “Some humans jumped me in the alleyway.”

“Humans know you’re friends of Jane, but some friend you are,” Dave sneers. “Lying to me when the proof is literally smeared all over you.”

You roll your eyes and reach up to remove your eye coverings. They make your eyes look completely black, like when you were young. You glare at Dave defiantly.

“I’m guessing you know enough about troll biology to know our eye colour matches our blood colour?” you snap and toss the eye coverings aside.

Dave steps backwards and his mouth hangs open. You sigh angrily and yank off your shirt to wipe the wet blood off of your face. Most of it has thankfully dried already. There are no wounds on your head, just a bloody nose and a cut in your lip where you bit it. You then push the shirt against the thin cut lazily bleeding on your torso.

Other than the blood that’s dried onto your face from your nose and some serious bruises, you’ll wake up with tomorrow alive. You’ve had worse beatings.

“Are you just going to stand there looking like an idiot or are you going to say something?” you snap irritably, but mostly it’s to cover up the insecurity of having your blood colour so openly displayed.

It’s been a very long time since you’ve been exposed like this. Dave just stands there completely still.

“Shit, K,” he begins. “Fuck. I didn’t know trolls came in that particular flavour.”

“They don’t,” you correct, crinkling your nose at Dave’s wording. “I do. I’m a mutant. It could’ve had me culled in the Empire, until the new Empress came to power. Now I just hide it because I’d rather be a secretive freak than an openly hated mutant.”

Dave starts to gape at you in a way that makes your skin crawl. You brace yourself for the unknown when he starts to lift his arm. He’s not reaching for you, instead he’s reaching for his own face. Dave takes his shades gently and slowly removes them, finally unveiling his eyes to you. He clips the shades into the collar of his shirt in attempt to look casual about it.

“They’re red,” you say.

Without the shades, it’s easy to see the apprehension in his, _candy red eyes._ They’re the same colour. He’s been hiding it, just like you have.

“Like you,” he murmurs and it’s somewhat garbled.

You’re not really sure who moves first, but the two of you meet. Yourself leaping upwards from the bed and Dave jolting forward, mouths pressing against each other almost desperately. Dave’s hands frame your face, fingers tangling with your black hair. You let your own hands land on his hips, curling into the fabric and pressing against his skin. 

You feel somewhat foolish kissing Dave. You’ve never kissed anyone like this before. There were a few test kisses before you completely screwed up your potential matespritship with Terezi. Other than that, you’re completely out of your element.

So you let Dave take the lead and react to what his own mouth is doing against yours. You let your eyes flutter shut like his and try to stop thinking about it so much. There’s an urgency behind the kiss on Dave’s end. As if he thinks, if he stops, you’ll vanish.

Dave starts pushing against you with his body, forcing you to start taking steps backwards. You understand that he’s moving you towards the bed when your calves hit the frame and you tumble backwards onto the mattress. The kiss is broken as Dave prevents himself from going down with you. He releases your face and places his hands on either side of your head. Once again taking the initiative, Dave bumps a knee against yours and you get the message.

After parting your legs, Dave slots himself between them. He stares down at you and his red eyes really bring out the freckles dusting across his cheeks and bridge of his nose. His face is pleasantly flushed and you do your best to memorize it. You think he looks beautiful like this, all flushed in your colours.

Dave lets out a huff of laughter, probably because you fell in a clumsy fashion, before dipping his face in again and catching your lips. He’s got a bit of your blood on his own face now and you laugh at the ridiculousness of this entire scenario. First you were arguing with each other and now you’re kissing each other like your lives depend on it.

The tone changes and the kiss is more languid. The urgency from before seems to have broken with you flailing onto the bed. His nose presses into your cheek and yours against his. Since your nose took a good enough blow to make it bleed, it’s somewhat painful. The pleasant sensation of the kiss manages to send the pain into oblivion with all of your rational thought processes. This is it; the dance you and Dave have been doing for the past weeks has finally culminated in this.

The feelings you have for him are so definitely red but it’s also far more complicated than just simple flushed affections. You can still feel the tug of black and even some pale feelings whenever you’re with Dave. That’s totally fine you though; it’s always been how you do things. You vacillate and it causes havoc in every quadrant. Your deep friendship with Kanaya before you officially became moirails is the only reason she’s managed to stay so steady and strong within the pale quadrant.

But maybe with a human, who doesn’t follow the quadrants, you can find something that fulfills you outside of the quadrants. Fulfill your complicated mess of emotions that flip flop on the regular between different forms of troll romance or sometime just amalgamate for one singular mess. Maybe you should just stop thinking so much and focus on what’s happening right now.

You let your hands wander up from Dave’s hips and to his narrow waist. This apparently seems to be the wrong thing because Dave immediately leaps backwards. His eyes are wide and terrified. He runs his hands through his hair and makes a noise of annoyance, displeased with himself.

“Shit. Sorry. I shouldn’t have – I’ll just go now. I think we should just pretend that didn’t happen,” he rambles and is slipping on his shades.

You sit up and look at him in utter shock. You cannot believe you just had all those thoughts and now Dave is just backing out, smashing them all to oblivion. Looks like you are destined to be a failure at romance for your entire and miserable existence. Dave’s edging towards the door and just before he completely vanishes, he looks back at you and his face is completely neutral. You miss his eyes already.

“I’ll send someone to look at your injuries,” he murmurs and slips out of the room.

You stare at the shut door wondering what the hell just happened. Fidgeting angrily, you wince and remember that you were basically just mugged and injured.

It doesn’t take long before there’s a knock at the door, which was just for courtesy because Dirk enters before you can answer. You were expecting Jane or Jade or even John, but absolutely not Dirk. You suppose that Dave sought out his older brother as a form of emotional comfort in times of turmoil. From what you’ve heard, Dirk has a role similar to a lusus when it comes to Dave.

Dirk gives you an impressive glare and, unlike Dave, he has a bit of bulk to actually intimidate you with as well as the height. You’ve really had it with Striders glaring at you. Thankfully, he has what looks like a med kit in his hands. After a few moments of just staring at each other, Dirk moves. He pulls up the wooden chair kept at the desk and brings it close to the bed, placing it directly in front of you.

He takes a seat and opens up the med kit in his lap. Dirk doesn’t start right away and looks back up to meet your eyes again.

“So we’re going to do this one of two ways,” he begins. “Either you’re going to tell me what you did to Dave and then you’re going to fix it or I’m going to make your life a living hell.”

“I don’t understand why he wouldn’t ask Jane to help. She actually likes me,” you huff.

“He did, but I saw the look on his face so I decided you need to know what happens when you mess with my brother,” Dirk says and he looks back down at the med kit.

You make a noise of frustration and watch as Dirk pulls out a cloth before covering it in alcohol. He brings it up to your face and starts to rub off the dried blood. The gesture isn’t rough but it’s incredibly far from gentle and comforting. Dirk stares at you the whole time. Not exactly a pleasant infirmary visit that you would have had back at the palace.

“He’s all I have left – after we left Derse and our parents were killed. I take people hurting him very seriously,” Dirk continues. “Our parents weren’t around much when they were alive either, so I pretty much raised him myself. There is not a lot I wouldn’t do to keep him safe. I hope we’re clear.”

“It that a threat?” you snap, cross your arms and ignoring the pain.

“I know he’s got this whole bullshit act that he puts up, but he’s pretty sensitive,” Dirk explains, ignoring your comment. “I thought maybe you’d get that, since you spend so much time with him. Apparently you’ve missed that and gone ahead and done something that actually hurt him.”

Dirk pulls away from your face and the cloth is covered in your candy red blood. He looks at it with knowing eyes.

“I also know who you are, _Vantas_ ,” he mutters, crushing the cloth in his hand. “I don’t why you’re here because the Empire channels are still down but I do know you don’t want anyone knowing who you are. So you’ll deal with your mess and it’ll stay between us.”

He pulls your arms away from your chest in a surprisingly gentle movement. Dirk then starts on the bloodied shirt around your waist, tugging it away and revealing the thin cut. He takes a fresh cloth and repeats the process of cleaning it.

“Save your threats,” you hiss at Dirk and his cleaning stalls briefly. “I didn’t do anything. Dave freaked out for some reason.”

“You must have done something,” Dirk stresses and presses a little too hard while cleaning your wound.

“He initiated it himself,” you reply defensively, being deliberately obtuse because you really don’t want to tell Dirk you were just making out with his younger brother.

“Initiated what?” Dirk questions and sits back up to look through the med kit again.

You watch him through narrowed eyes as he pulls out thin, narrow bandages. Dirk begins to methodically pull off the backs and stick them across your wound. It hurts when they initially tug at your skin, but you realize that the bandages are meant to hold the skin together.

“He kissed me,” you finally admit. “Then realized what he was doing and fled the room. Now we’re doing this.”

Dirk abruptly sits up in the chair and looks at you intensely. He’s searching your eyes for an indication that you might be lying.

“Seriously?”

You nod. Dirk sighs and runs a hand through his hair. He stares up at the ceiling looking completely exasperated.

“What a fucking idiot,” Dirk mutters. “Doesn’t have any sense of fuckin’ self-perseveration.”

“Are we talking about me or Dave? You’re being unclear” you grumble.

“Look, I’m going to tell you something that I probably shouldn’t but you’re going to need this information if you actually want to pursue something with Dave. I’ll let you act accordingly,” Dirk says, titling his head back down to look at you.

“Still didn’t answer my question but alright, go ahead.”

“So a few years ago, back when the war ended and Skaia was free of troll occupation, the Empress sent an emissary here to help make sure Skaia was adequately supplied and recovering. This emissary would come every couple months, staying for a few weeks at a time. She came for about a year,” Dirk starts. “She stayed at the inn since it’s one of the only places on Skaia open to outsiders. Well, Dave got to know her despite being a bit biased against trolls. They got along really well, having pretty similar personalities. It was actually kind of nice seeing Dave make friends since the only people he interacts with is us and the Mayor.

“Inevitably, they got romantically involved but Dave was young and didn’t have any idea about the troll quadrants. Eventually it came out that Dave was only one of this troll’s quadrants – she already had a kismesis. Now Dave was not really okay with non-monogamy and after a thorough explanation of the quadrants, Dave decided that it wasn’t something he wanted to get involved in.

“The whole ordeal left him heart broken. For some humans, it’s considered cheating if someone has a second partner – especially if the first partner doesn’t know about the second partner. As a result, Dave decided to avoid getting involved with trolls again, which explains why he reacted so badly. He doesn’t want to get involved in the quadrants again. Since, to him, a romance is just between two people.”

“That’s an understandable view towards the quadrants,” you reply. “His panic is really unnecessary. I’m not actually viable in the quadrants because of my mutant blood. It’s not illegal anymore, but no one wants to be with a mutant.”

Dirk nods in approval and quickly finishes patching up cut. He then shuts the med kit and pushes himself away, the chair scratching against the floor.

“That’s something you should probably tell him,” Dirk finally says. “He’s in his room.”

That’s the closest thing to approval you’re ever going to get from Dirk.

Dirk stands up and puts the chair back at the desk.

“Thanks for patching me up,” you add before he exits the room.

Dirk merely dips his head in acknowledgement before leaving you alone in the room. Okay, so he’s not going to apologize for threatening you. That’s kind of rude. You’re starting to think that those were very genuine threats, even ruder, and perhaps Dirk knew what was going on the entire time.

You sit on the bed for a few more minutes mulling over Dirk’s words. Dave was unknowingly a troll’s matesprit. A troll who also had their black quadrant filled and he was uncomfortable with the idea of not being the only romantic partner in the troll’s life. You have an idea that monogamy is something that a majority of human’s practice, but didn’t really understand that it could actually hurt them if it was broken. You are also familiar with the idea of cheating and being unfaithful in regards to a singular quadrant.

Dave’s feelings aren’t so hard to understand.

You were also just thinking that perhaps Dave could offer you the fulfillment outside of the quadrants. And you could offer Dave a monogamous relationship without him being afraid of you being unfaithful in terms of a human monogamous relationship.

Standing from the bed, you are feeling bold enough to go and actually have a discussion about your feelings. You force the desire to talk to Kanaya about this to the back of your mind. This is a decision you can make on your own and Kanaya isn’t here anyway. Getting a letter to her and waiting for her response would take too much time.

Before leaving your room, you grab a fresh shirt and put it on. Now that you are no longer covered in blood, you can make an appearance in the main room of the inn.

Jane is all over you when you arrive, nearly jumping over the bar to look you over.

“It’s fine, Jane,” you tell her. “I did leave the things you asked for in the alley.”

“I can send someone else to go get those,” she says. “I don’t think you’ll be leaving the district without an escort from no on.”

You grimace. It’s not really something you want, having a babysitter come with you whenever you leave the inn but it’s probably for the best. Just makes your life on Skaia more like your life in the palace.

“I guess I can live with that,” you reply.

“Dirk wasn’t too hard on you?” Jane inquires politely.

Does everyone know what happened between you and Dave?

“A few threats but I think it went well,” you report sarcastically. “He could probably lighten up a bit.”

“We all could benefit to lighten up, but it’s not exactly easier considering our histories,” Jane reminds you. “He’s just protective of Dave, that’s all.”

“How do you even know what happened?” you demand.

Jane gives you a coy look before shooing you off.

“Go talk to Dave,” she dismisses you. “Get this figured out so dinner isn’t awkward. I think we’ve all had enough of the Dave-K related tension.”

You roll your eyes but leave to go see Dave.

Dave’s bedroom in the side house is on the second floor, between Dirk’s and Rose’s. You’ve been in it a few times but never for long. Dave likes to keep his room a sanctuary free from the commotion of the outside world. Not free from messes, though.

You stand in front of the shut door and briefly consider what would happen if you didn’t do this. If you just decided to go back to room and pretend the kiss never happened like Dave said earlier? There’s another couple seconds where you believe you are undeserving of any form of romantic relationship. After wresting with your thoughts for sometime, you finally knock on the door and wait for Dave’s response.

There is none.

You knock again, more insistently this time. Crossing your arms, you glare at the shut door. Of course Dave would be difficult and not answer the door. He can be such a stubborn ass sometimes. After a few more minutes, you lose the last remaining shred of your patience, which was abnormally long considering the ordeals you’ve gone through today.

“Dave, I know you’re in there and I’m coming in,” you growl and shove the door open.

Dave is lying on the bed, face pressed into the pillows. It seems entirely overdramatic but matches the Dave you’ve come to know. Sighing, you walk across the room and shove at Dave’s legs. He moves them, allowing you to take a seat on the bed. Dave says something but it’s completely muffled by the pillow.

“I can’t hear you when you’re fucking biting the pillow,” you hiss, swatting at Dave’s leg.

Dave’s body shakes a bit with silent laughter and you can hear Kanaya saying ‘phrasing,’ like she always does, in your head. But Dave does rearrange himself by flipping around and lying on his back. He taps you lightly with his foot; it’s a cautious gesture as he tests the waters. You scowl at him and shove his foot away. Smirking, Dave brings his foot back and makes a show of digging it into your side. He hits one of your sore spots and you wince.

“Did Jane help you out?” Dave asks, tilting his head. “I kind of asked her while I was running through the inn.”

“Dirk came instead.”

“He did what – that fucker! What did he say?”

“A few threats and a story about your aversion to your troll romance.”

“Never have an older brother, he only continually proves to be an overprotective thorn in my side,” Dave mutters. “So why are you here? To let me all down gentle? Oh K, my heart can’t take it! Please don’t break my fragile human heart.”

You roll your eyes at Dave’s theatrics.

“No, I’m here because I think we should talk.”

“Isn’t that what we’re doing? I feel like we’ve got a really good back and forth going right now.”

You recognize the beginning of Dave’s rambles as nerves and a method of derailing any serious discussions.

“Not that kind of talking. Like a real feelings jam.”

“Do we need to get one of those ridiculous piles that trolls are so fond of?”

“That’s for moirails, Dave. And you’re avoiding the subject.”

“I don’t even know what the subject is, dude. You’re the one who initiated the talk.”

You sigh loudly, aggravated at Dave’s behaviour.

“I don’t do quadrants,” you blurt.

“Wait, what?” Dave says and his brows furrow, disappearing behind the shades.

“I’m a mutant, Dave. Trolls aren’t exactly lining up to fill their quadrants me. If you want to be with me – I’m not going to find someone else to be in another quadrant. It would be only you.”

Dave suddenly lurches forward and he’s kissing you again. You’ll take that as a yes.

“You’re an idiot,” you manage to say between kisses.

You can feel him grin against you.

“But I’m your idiot,” he says in a ridiculously cheesy tone, but it’s true.

There’s a feeling settling in the bottom of your stomach telling you that this relationship is probably going to make its merry way through the quadrants. The nature of human romance does this anyway, as well as your own ability to vacillate at an alarming rate.

There’s one thing for certain though. You like Dave. And you want to be in a relationship with him, even the relationship doesn’t fit in any quadrant.

* * *

 

The beginning of the festival takes you by storm. It’s five days long, with the first four celebrating Skaia’s freedom and the last day for remembering the lives lost on Prospit and Derse. Day one is spent decorating the city – the key part is setting up lanterns on the front of your home, symbolizing the people you’ve lost.

The inn has a fair bit of lanterns on it’s front as it has become a home for those who don’t own a house on Skaia. The humans hang their own lanterns on the front of the side house. It’s a solemn event as they each take a turn attaching a lantern to the front. Jane insisted that you take part in all of the festival, but you still feel like you’re intruding watching this process.

“Dirk does our dad and I do our mom,” Dave explains, stepping up beside you and bumps your shoulder. “That’s who we were closer to – even though neither of them were around that much.”

Dave’s arrival surprises you somewhat. You had been lost in thought watching Roxy and Rose attach their lanterns to the house. Dave’ lantern is covered in bright red and gives off a warm glow. It’s tucked next to Dirk’s orange one to the left of the doorway. 

“Do you have anyone that you lost?” Dave asks and he gestures to an unlit lantern.

“Is this all for people who have died?” you ask.

“Nah, lost can be a broad term. Some people light lanterns because of who they use to be,” Dave says.

In the end, you don’t light a lantern because you’ve never lost anyone. You briefly consider setting a lantern for the lives lost in the rebellion, but decide against it. It’s been made abundantly clear to you that Skaia is not for trolls. Maybe your home and your lusus, but you’ll get to see your lusus once Feferi and Kanaya get back to restoring adults to Alternia.

“Suit yourself,” Dave says and stalks off to help Rose hang up her lantern.

She’s far too short to reach the spot designated to her and Roxy is far too amused to help her out. You remain behind and stare at the eight lanterns adorning the front of the house. When it’s dark outside, the entire city is going to be brought to life with the lanterns.

After Rose and Dave finish hanging her lantern, Jane lugs a box out from the house. Inside it contains a giant mass of ribbons and smaller lanterns. Everyone gets to work immediately and starts to decorate the square. The Carapacians have their own decorations creating a flurry of activity.

You stand off to the side, feeling quite left out and overwhelmed at the sheer unity. Ribbons disappear into the tree and spread across the square, attaching to the nearest roof. There’s soon a canopy of ribbons above your head. As well, the tiny lanterns are strategically hidden in the leaves of the tree, making it appear to glow.

You’re a troll and such acts of cooperation and friendship are completely foreign. The idea of you trying to organize your friends into decorating something makes you cringe. The only reason the rebellion worked was because of an overwhelming and shared desire to see the old Empress dead.

“Everything alright, K?” Jane asks, pulling up to you.

She’s got a bundle of twine in her arms, probably to be used for stringing up more lanterns.

“I feel out of place,” you reply.

“It’s really something isn’t it?” Jane says, voice full of awe. “How it all comes together like a well oiled machine. Don’t worry, the next days’ activities are much easier to get involved in.”

There’s no chance to reply because Jane is already bounding back to work, handing out the twine to Carapacians. You remain tucked off to the side, watching the square change before your eyes. Although you feel like you don’t belong, time passes quickly watching the Skaians work in harmony.

The sun is setting when the square is finally completely decorated. The Last Tree gives off a soft glow and beckons you towards it, but just as you take a step, Dave places a hand on your shoulder to stop you. The Carapacians are beginning to gather around it, taking each other’s hand and wrapping tightly around the trunk. The humans step backwards, now outsiders as well to the Carapacians’ ceremony. There’s a soft hum that fills the air as the Carapacians begin to sing.

There are no words that you recognize and perhaps there are no words at all. You’ve never heard a Carapacian speak after all. The humans all seem equally entranced by the song, completely at peace with the noise. From the tune, you assume it’s more of a joyous song. It lasts for some time, having begun just as the sun began to set and finishing only once the sky is completely black.

The lanterns solely light Skaia.

The Carapacians disassemble smoothly and return to their homes at the denouement of the song. The humans follow their example. You hesitantly follow them back into the house, wanting to stay outside to continue to witness the decorated Skaia. Dave senses your reluctance to leave and presses close, his hand still on your shoulder.

“Later,” he murmurs into your ear and you shiver from his nearness.

He pulls you into the side house where Jane has prepared a stew for dinner. Everyone assembles around the table, tucking in closer than usual. It seems the festival inspires closeness.

“This is a traditional meal from Prospit,” she explains, handing you a bowl from one of the massive pots on the stove. “When humans first arrived, the Carapacians brought this meal to the colonists of Skaia to give them a change of pace from the rations.”

“What was that song?” you ask, looking around the table.

“It’s a Carapacian victory hymn,” Roxy says. “It’s been modified a bit, but the freedom of Skaia is in part due to the victory of the troll rebellion. The Carapacians are thanking the rebels.”

“Oh,” you mumble and stick a spoonful of the stew into your mouth to prevent yourself from saying something stupid.

That hymn was for you, literally. It was for you and your friends and every troll that sacrificed their lives to bring about a better galaxy.

“I think most people here on Skaia tend to forget that,” Jade adds quietly. “The trolls who occupied Skaia are not the same trolls who inhabit the galaxy today. You’re living proof of that, K.”

“I suppose I am,” you muse. “But there are still remnants of the old Empire out there. Being wary of trolls is not a bad way to live.”

The meal moves on from there. Everyone quietly enjoying their stew, shoulders pressed against one another. It reminds you of the time during the end of the rebellion where the old Empress had just been killed. Back at your camp, yourself, all the trolls under your command, Kanaya, and Eridan just enjoyed a quiet meal and feeling the relief that came with the fighting finally being over. Something about taking in your freedom makes people want to be close and quiet, you suppose.

“We should go out to feed the patrons,” Jane murmurs, nudging Dirk to her left.

He nods and stands to join her. They both take massive pots that were on the stove and head through the door to the inn.

“Why just Dirk and Jane?” you ask.

“They were the heirs to the thrones of Prospit and Derse,” Rose explains. “They see it as their duty to provide to those who return to Skaia for the festival, as if they are welcoming them home.”

“They have a bigger part on the last day of the festival,” John adds. “Leading the people and stuff like that.”

“Well, it’s been fun,” Dave says suddenly and he’s standing from the table. “But K and I have more important things to do. Enjoy the rest of night, ladies, Egbert, and English.”

“What are you up to Dave?” Jade questions and narrows her eyes.

Roxy laughs and makes a lewd gesture that makes your face warm. Dave keeps it cool however.

“Nah, we’re just going to go stargazing and shit,” Dave replies. “And Roxy, please, you know me better than that.”

“That’s much worse,” John exclaims, making a face. “It’s all romantic and gooey.”

Dave leans over you to reach for John across the table. You have to hunch over to accommodate him. Dave’s proximity is not helping your blush. Dave yanks the makeshift hood over John’s head and pulls it forward to cover John’s face. He drops his hands on your shoulders, giving them a brief a squeeze. You take that as your cue to get up as well.

“One day you’ll understand the intricacies of romance, John,” Dave teases.

“And you are the great master,” Rose shoots back.

“Rose has had at least four times as many girlfriends as you have had,” Jake points out and Roxy high fives him.

“Great to have you back, Jakey. Team Keeping-the-Striders’-Egos-in-Check is finally back in action!” Roxy cheers.

Dave sighs.

“And now I have K and Rose has no one, so there,” Dave says and steps backwards to let you get up.

It’s a not so subtle way of telling you to hurry up. You’re tempted to take your time since it’s fun watching Dave verbally spar against the others. However, you really want to see the stars with Dave. So you push your chair back and follow Dave out of the kitchen.

He leads to the back garden of the house and already you can see the glow of Skaia’s lanterns.

“This way,” he says and turns to face the house’s back wall.

There’s a rope ladder.

“You fucking humans and your rope ladders. Why can’t you just use stairs? Maybe it has to do with your lack of architectural focus at a young age.”

"I warned you about the stairs, bro," Dave laughs softly to himself before starting to climb up the ladder.

You give him enough space before following. The ladder is bound to the side of the house, not freely hanging like the one in the _Rogue._ This makes it much easier to climb since the rungs don’t flop around.

Dave is waiting for you on the flat roof of the house. He offers you a hand to help pull you up. The house isn’t very tall, so there’s not much of a view from up here either. You’re about to make a rude comment when Dave walks over to where the house presses against the much taller inn. Another ladder hangs from it.

“How did you get it up here in the first place?” you ask.

“Dirk did it,” Dave replies shrugging. “Pretty sure he climbed.”

The recklessness of it all reminds you somewhat of Terezi. Who, despite all odds, continues to undertake the most ridiculous and dangerous tasks. You and Dave climb the ladder, arriving at the top of the inn. It towers over most of buildings in the surrounding district. The branches of the Last Tree curl up and rest on the rooftop.

Dave walks to the center and immediately sits down. You take your time, walking around the roof to peer around at Skaia. Only the lanterns are providing external light, making Skaia glow softly.

“It looks like a firefly from way up above,” Dave calls. “Maybe next year you can see it.”

_Next year._

You try not to let the words affect you, but you still tense up. Where will you be next year? Skaia isn’t your home and sooner or later, something will happen. Either you’ll return to the Empire as it is or you’ll be found out and killed. You won’t be staying in Skaia forever and both of you know it. Dave is just ignoring the inevitable. And maybe you’ll even be here next year. As long as it takes the others to root out the conspirators.

You turn around and walk towards Dave, taking a seat next to him. The view of Skaia is really something from up here. It’s been so long since you’ve be able to just take in the view of a planet while on the planet itself. Mostly you’ve been longing for Alternia from some space station or the moon where the palace is located.

“So what does ‘stargazing and shit’ entail?” you question, parroting Dave’s earlier words.

“Looking at stars,” Dave replies. “I could point out some things or you could ask. It’s a pretty open board.”

“Where’s Alternia?” you ask, remembering from a few weeks back when you tried to find it yourself.

Dave nods. He looks up to the sky to figure it out, quietly talking himself through the process. He mumbles about the time of year and the current time of day before finally figuring it out. He points into the sky and off to the your left.

“That’s its star right there,” he explains. “It’s too far away to see, but the star is visible for most parts of the year on Skaia.”

You follow his gaze and furrow your brow, unable to find the star Dave is referring too. He chuckles briefly before shuffling around so he’s pressed up behind you. His knees rest on either side of you and his chin nearly resting on your shoulder. He grabs your hand and you initially resist, unused to the touch.

“Relax,” he breathes into your ear. “I’m just going to point it out for you.”

Reluctantly you allow Dave to mould your arm to his will. He takes your hand into his and brings it upwards. His finger points to a specific star in the sky, in the area that he was looking at earlier.

“I see it,” you say, nodding. “That’s my home.”

Dave drops his arm, bringing yours with it. He leaves your hands clasped together, resting on your thigh. This time his chin really comes to rest on your shoulder. Maybe John was right and the romantic bullshit was much worse. On the other hand, you kind of like having Dave so close.

“Are there any constellations on Skaia?”

“Not as many as you might think. The colonists made a few up when they arrived, but nothing really dramatic about,” Dave answers. “There are some that are shared with the Prospitians. I’ve been told Prospit had a very similar night sky to Skaia.”

“Show them to me.”

Dave hums in an agreement and the way it reverberates through his chest, tickles your back.

“So there’s the Sleuth,” Dave says and takes your hand to point at a cluster of stairs. “The Prospitians have this story about this detective who was trapped in his office. I’ve never listened to the whole thing, it gets pretty lengthy and quickly jumps off the tracks.”

“What exactly is it supposed to be?”

“A detective. There’s his head and his legs. Those stars make up his body. It matches with another constellation, the Chosen Arbiter, which is apparently the ‘final form’ of the Sleuth at the end of the story but that’s visible only during one part of the year. You know what? Let’s not explain the whole mess that is Skaian constellations.”

Dave release your hands and flops backwards, his back hitting the wooden roof with a muffled ‘thud.’ You turn around to give him a questioning look.

“I thought that was stargazing?”

“Or it could be just this without all the complicated explanations. Now lay the fuck down before I make you,” Dave replies, craning his head up to look at you.

You acquiesce and don’t really take care as you trample over Dave’s leg. You crawl next to him and lie down with a loud ‘thunk.’ He bumps you with his shoulder.

“Don’t be too loud or Jane will make us get down,” Dave warns.

“How can you see anything with those fucking shades on?” you snap. “Take them off.”

“Nah,” he says, grinning mischeviously.

You roll your eyes and snatch them away. Dave doesn’t fight you at all so it feels like a hollow victory. Regardless, you fold them up carefully and place them on your opposite side.

“So that’s what the stars look like,” Dave remarks dryly. “Finally I have been freed from my clouded vision.”

“You’re such a nerd,” you inform Dave. “As much as you call you’re self a cool kid, deep down you’re just a dork.”

“I’ll take nerd, please. John is the dork,” Dave corrects.

The two of you fall into silence, staring at the stars. It’s quite cool out, but Dave is like a furnace. He doesn’t say a word as you press closer to him.

“So is this all we do?” you ask after some time.

“Huh?” Dave mumbles and his voice is thick with sleep.

You turn to glare at him and notice that his eyes are shut and his breathing is very slow.

“Hey asshole don’t fall asleep on me,” you mutter, lightly shoving him. “I’m not carrying you down the ladder.”

Dave makes a sleepy noise of protest, but his eyes blink open as he turns to look at you.

“Why’d you have to wake me up?” he sighs. “I was having a nice nap.”

“You can’t just fall asleep on the roof,” you snap back.

“Says who?” he asks, raising his eyebrow.

You open your mouth to protest but no words come out. Dave gives you a lazy smirk and his eyes flutter back shut.

“Okay, how about this:  _I’m_ not falling asleep on the roof,” you challenge.

His eyes open again and sits up. He runs his hand through his hair, in attempt to restore it to life after lying down for so long. You hand him back his shades, which he just hangs on his shirt. This pleases you immensely.

“Alright,” he says and pushes himself up.

You follow him and the two of you quietly head back inside the house. It’s quiet, everyone already having gone to bed. Once inside, you turn to head back to the inn but Dave catches your shoulder. He doesn’t say a word as he redirects you towards the stairs, towards his own room.

Dave heads upstairs ahead of you and after giving it a few seconds of thought you follow him. When you arrive in his room, he’s already in bed, almost back asleep. For a few minutes, you stare at him, unsure of what to do.

“Just get the fuck in the bed,” Dave mumbles and he opens up the covers for you.

You slip off your shoes and slowly crawl into the bed next to Dave. He drops the blankets but leaves his arms resting across your abdomen. His breathing almost immediately settles again, indicating that Dave is already fast asleep.

You’ve never shared a bed with anyone – sleeping in sopor for most of your life. The idea of sharing a sleeping space seems very pale in terms of troll romance. However, it’s just another human romance idiosyncrasy that you’ll have to get use to. Since, after all, this relationship with Dave is off the quadrants.

It takes some time, but you manage to make yourself comfortable in Dave’s bed. Dave’s sleeping form unconsciously makes room for you and then moulds around you. Soon, you too are feeling your eyelids grow heavy and join Dave in dreamland.

* * *

 

The next three days each hold a party that almost bleed into each other, only halted by the need for sleep. When you were told there would be celebrations each day, you were not expecting actual parties every single day.

You wake up the morning of the first day, in Dave’s room. Surprisingly he’s already gone. Either you woke up late or he woke up early, both of which are odd occurrences.

Pushing the blankets off, you decide to return to your own room. You made the poor choice of sleeping in your clothes, making them feel uncomfortable against your skin. Changing out of them as soon as possible is your priority.

Unfortunately, you’re stopped from your quest rather soon. All the humans are gathered in the kitchen, bright eyed and ready for the day. A quick glance at the clock confirms that Dave did indeed wake up early.

“Morning, K!” Jade chirps. “Hope you’re ready for day 2 of the festival!”

“I found yesterday somewhat underwhelming so I’m not sure what I should be ready for,” you reply, slightly annoyed at the cheeriness of Jade’s voice as well as the leers everyone, minus Dave and Jade, are giving you.

“Today is where things really kick off,” John adds. “Go get ready or we’re going to be late!”

“Late for what?” you ask.

“No time for questions,” Jade scolds, shooing you off into the inn. “We’ll explain on the way.”

There’s urgency in Jade’s voice so you don’t waste time heading to your room and getting changed before returning to the kitchen. Dave thrusts an apple into your hand as a replacement for breakfast just as everyone is exiting to go outside. The two of you hang behind the group as they begin to walk down the streets of the city.

“Why didn’t you wake me up?” you growl quietly, annoyed that Dave’s entire family had to witness you coming down from what was clearly not your room.

“I’ve been up for over an hour,” Dave replies. “And you took forever to fall asleep last night, so I thought I’d let you sleep in as much as possible.”

“And what if I hadn’t woken up in time?”

“I was just about to go up and get you,” Dave shrugs. “We’re not really in any rush anyway. This morning is just Jade’s favourite part of the festival.”

“What exactly is it?” you ask.

“A play,” Dave answers. “It’s just about the history of Skaia and the importance of the Freedom Festival. I guess it’ll answer most of your questions.”

“And why does Jade like it so much?”

“It’s got cute little kids running around in ridiculous costumes. Jade’s into that stuff.”

You nod and take a bite of the apple Dave gave you. It makes you regret missing Jane's home cooked breakfast for extra sleep. The streets are oddly full for the early time, but everyone else is heading in the same direction as you. Everyone is here to take part in the festival.

You’re lead to a large square with a makeshift stage set up at one end.

“This is the original settlement of Skaia,” Dave tells you as you’re looking around. “The colonists first landed here.”

Jade takes the lead, forcing the nine of you to take a place up near the front of the stage. Your neck prickles as you feel the heat of glares on you when you start to move through the crowd. You’re a troll and this is a festival dedicated to freedom from your race. You’re not wanted here.

The reaction from your friends is immediate. Jane takes one side of and Dave takes the other, both of them pressing in close to you. They remain this way even as you all take a seat on the ground in front of the stage.

“Trolls on Skaia were under threat by the troll occupation too,” Jane mutters angrily. “They all like to conveniently forget about the hemospectrum and former troll politics.”

You don’t reply, but you’re quite grateful for their support. At least this way, you won’t get jumped in an alley again. Attempting to ignore the glares, you focus on the stage.

Apparently Jade was right and you were almost late. Only moments after you sit down, the curtain pulls back and the play begins.

The background is painted to imitate space. Black with tiny stars speckling the expanse. You actually recognize the Sleuth constellation Dave had pointed out last night.

Three human children dressed in ridiculously large planet costumes come out on stage. They all stand to the back, in a neat row. The child in a purple planet costume stands a bit away from the first two. You’re amazed at their abilities to move and remain coordinated in such massive costumes.

“I am Skaia,” the first child announces, stepping forward.

“I am Prospit,” the second child says, stepping next to Skaia.

“And I am Derse,” the third child greets, joining in the line up and still some distance away from the first two.

“A long time ago, Prospit and Derse were only inhabited by the Carapacians,” a narrator booms over an intercom. “Skaia was but an empty planet, home to no one. But the Carapacians foretold of the arrival of a species from a planet called Earth that would inhabit Skaia and lead the three planets to an era of peace.”

Tiny Carapacians run onto the stage, holding up a large banner that has a picture of a rocket coming from a planet you assume is Earth. The next image on the banner is people dressed in gold and purple arriving on Prospit and Derse. Finally, the third image is the Carapacians and humans living in peace.

“And this did come true,” a rocket descends onto the stage as the crowd oohs, “the humans arrived after a many generational trip from Earth. For many years, they all lived in harmony.”

Children dressed in the yellow and purple of arrive on the stage and begin to dance and play with the tiny Carapacian children. The children dressed as planets themselves are bobbing and smiling along.

“However, one day the humans’ home planet of Earth finally managed to gain warp technology. This allowed the humans to travel from Earth and Skaia within a few days, not a years. This was also a signal to a greater, eviler forcer that the human race was ready to be enslaved by their empire.”

The lights dim on the stage and all the humans, Carapacians, and planets stop dancing. A red ship, one you recognize as the former Empress’, arrives from the side. Several children that are dressed as trolls with their skin painted grey and fake horns on headbands rush onto the stage. The horns are inaccurate and none of the trolls have symbols or their blood colours affixed to their clothes. These trolls should be mostly low bloods, unwillingly controlled by high bloods at a distance to do this. Your hands crumple into a fist being reminded of the low bloods being used like tools. Unlike the care put into the other costumes, the trolls have little thought into their own. To the Skaians - the trolls were nothing, hardly even sentient.

The Skaian children run off the stage, screaming.

“But the trolls underestimated the humans and Earth fought back! Earth built up their militaries on Prospit and Derse, as planets close to the Empire’s edges. Each planet was already bolstered by Carapacian technology.”

Everyone leaves the stage except for the child playing Prospit. They adopt a serious look on their face and appear to be standing strong in the midst of space.

“When the Empress of the trolls caught wind of the military strength on Prospit, she had it destroyed. Externally and Internally.”

The red ship flies in and around the planet. The faux trolls start to pull at the planet. The Prospit costume breaks into pieces and the child inside lets out a wretched scream and starts to help rip apart their own costume. You wince at the sound. The child collapses to the ground and lands amongst the rubble of their costume.

“Prospit had fallen, but not before an insider of the Empress’ own forces got word to Prospit. There was a hurried Exodus to get as many Prospitians off the planet.”

There are suddenly white Carapacians and humans dressed in gold, fluttering around the stage. They are all panicked and making distressed noises. The lights flicker red to signify the destruction of the planet. These new additions hurriedly weave around the trolls and the ship, scooping up the pieces of Prospit.

“The priority to get off the planet was the royal family, who had to go on to inspire the people in their new lives on Skaia. The young heiress to Prospit was far too young to remember the planet. The heir was never to even know Prospit, born on Skaia years after the Exodus.”

The stage clears and in the commotion the child who had been playing Prospit has disappeared. Now Derse stands alone on the stage.

“The Empress would not take such direct tactics with Derse, being too far entrenched in wild space to be completely destroyed. Entering wild space to destroy the planet would make Empress’ fleet vulnerable to attack by dangerous bandits. Instead she took a much more subtle approach, making the planet sick until it was no longer viable.”

The lights flicker on the Derse costume, causing it to go from its rich purple colour to a sickly grey. That’s a shot at trolls you don’t miss. The child inside the costume collapses to the ground.

“As before, there was an Exodus on Derse. They were given a much greater time frame to escape and most Dersites fled to Skaia mostly unharmed. But Earth could no longer protect the people of Skaia; its military force on Prospit and Derse were destroyed. Thus, it withdrew to protect the inner parts of its sovereignty. The Empress’ terrible gaze turned to Skaia.”

The Derse child has been pulled off stage and Skaia takes the center. The child looks worried, glancing around nervously. Several humans and Carapacians huddle behind the costume, looking fearful.

“With little military force, Skaia was hardly a threat. The Empress also knew the rulers of the planet were long dead, but unbeknownst to her, their heirs lived on. Still, Skaia held anti-Empire sentiments and had to be dealt with accordingly. Thus began the occupation of Skaia.”

The children dressed as trolls march onto the stage and start to shove Skaia to the ground. They hold it in place as the planet struggles violently. They cackle mercilessly and you know for a goddamn _fact_ that many trolls who had been involved in the occupation, were sympathetic to Skaia. You have even met them and heard their stories of slipping the Skaians rations.

“Hope was not lost as within the Empire itself, a rebellion stirred. With the loss of its tyrannical Empress, the Empire crumbled as did it’s hold on Skaia.”

Skaia bursts upwards, knocking all the trolls to the ground. Many of their horns fall off and you wince. The lack of horns is considered highly demeaning within troll culture. You subconsciously reach for your own nubby horns, since their size is considered shameful. The child stands triumphant.

“Skaia was now free. Free from the Empire and free from Earth. It has lived in peace ever since.”

The curtains shut and the crowd erupts into applause. You apprehensively join in, not really a big fan of plays and particularly of how trolls were portrayed. The rebellion was entirely glossed over, forgetting that it was trolls who were responsible for it.

The children come out in front of the curtain, taking clumsy bows in their costumes. The applause only grows more thunderous with their arrival, many people even standing. The humans you are with, other than Jade who seems to be clapping mostly for the kids, aren’t really responding much to the play either. It’s probably not the troll representation that’s the reason for their response, but how their lives were placed above others.

“It simplifies things a great deal,” Jane tells you. “It fails to really cover the extent of the effect the Troll Rebellion had on Skaia, but I imagine you already figured it out.”

“Yeah,” you mumble.

Maybe if you weren’t actually so heavily involved in the rebellion, it wouldn’t bother you that much. Maybe if you weren’t a mutant you wouldn’t care that the portrayal of trolls was so _wrong._ The vast majority of the trolls were low bloods who had all agency robbed from them. This play only continues to hurt those trolls. Maybe if you weren’t the Sufferer’s sole ancestor, with the desire for better lives for low bloods literally coursing through your veins.

But it does bother you because your effect on the galaxy was large and widespread. It shouldn’t be glossed be over. You’re not looking for a big parade, maybe just not complete contempt. It bothers you that in your lifetime, you’ll never get to see the galaxy at ease with Trolls. Maybe Gamzee or Eridan, definitely Feferi.

But not you.

Eventually the applause peters out and the crowd begins to disperse. The nine of you wait a bit until returning to the inn. The play has left you in a bit of a mood and you lag behind the group, allowing them to discuss changes from the previous years.

You spend the rest of the day alone in your room, while everyone is outside prepping for the evening festivities. Jade brings up something for you to eat at midday and apologizes for making you go see the play.

“I wasn’t thinking, I know how deeply involved you are with trolls and low bloods. You shouldn’t have had to sit through that.”

“Jade, it’s fine,” you grit out. “I’m not mad at you. Just the universe in general.”

“Oh. Well I’ll come get you when it’s time for the party,” Jade says before leaving you alone.

You’ve spent plenty of time brooding alone when you were younger. You’re older and on a different planet, but that doesn’t mean you’ve lost the ability.

Glaring sullenly at the wall, you wish for Kanaya. She knows how to deal with you best during these moods. The humans have very little practice in dealing with a troll who is angry at their own race for being such aggressive assholes and making every other race hate you. Especially an angry mutant blood that worked so hard to dismantle the hemospectrum with the trolls only for its discourse to permeate into other species.

Brooding is a familiar activity to you and time passes quickly. Soon it's dark outside and music floats through your window. Jade returns to your room, fed up with your behaviour.

“The party and company will cheer you up. You are going outside and enjoying the party!” she snaps, dragging you out of bed. “You can sulk later.”

You don’t put up a fight as Jade drags you downstairs and outside into the square. Tables are set up everywhere, covered in food and drinks. Music is coming from a live band of Prospitians off to the side. Some people even appear to be dancing. Humans you don’t recognize are in the square, mingling with each other and Carapacians.

“Enjoy yourself,” Jade says sternly and marches off to where John is standing.

You stand lamely in front of the inn for quite sometime. There are many people in the square and you very quickly lose track of Jade and John. The humans you know are nowhere to be seen and you briefly consider just going back to your room. Your stomach growls angrily, reminding you that you only ate an apple for breakfast and had a tiny mid afternoon meal. It is time to eat.

Sauntering over to a table with food, you are intercepted by the Mayor. He waves his hands at you and his eyes are very joyous. He’s quite happy to see you, you think.

“I have no idea what you are saying, but I’m very hungry,” you inform him politely because the Mayor is someone who deserves your utmost respect.

The Mayor nods excitedly and takes your hand, dragging you the rest of the way to the food table. He hands you a plate, which you fill with a hearty helping of the food supplied. Bouncing on his heels, the Mayor watches you with wide eyes as you eat. It unnerves you slightly, making you eat faster. This is probably the desired effect because the Mayor begins to nod rapidly as you near completion of your food.

When you’re done he takes the plate, sets it on the table, and grabs your hand again. He drags you through the dense crowd of partygoers and towards the trunk of the Last Tree. You duck under the low hanging branches and spot Dave. He gives you a wave and a small smile.

“There you are. Thanks, Mayor. You truly are the best friend I could ever ask for,” Dave says, giving the Mayor a fist bump.

The Mayor releases you and gives you a little push towards Dave before diving back into the crowd.

“Jade told me you were somewhere in there,” Dave says, nodding slightly towards the crowd.

“It’s a little overwhelming,” you admit as you take a seat next to Dave.

“At first, but by tomorrow you’ll be a real pro,” Dave assures you.

“There will be a crowd like this tomorrow?”

“And the day after that. We party for three days straight. It can get pretty wild. Although the third day is somewhat subdued,” Dave explains. “So Jade was telling me you were being a real downer earlier. Wanna talk about it?”

That’s a pale flirtation. You want to tell that to Dave, but you have no idea how he’d react to you bringing up the quadrants. An explanation of the quadrants would cheer you up, though.

“It’s fine,” you lie. “Sometimes I forget that the troll Empire I currently live in isn’t the one that everyone knows.”

“It’s pretty shitty,” Dave concedes. “But one day, I’m sure the good Empress will have everything figured out.”

“And here I thought I’d never hear say anything good about the Empire.”

“What can I say, your pro-Empire rants have finally started indoctrinating me.”

“Not sure if indoctrinating is the right word.”

“But you’ll let it slide for me,” Dave teases and he slides down his shades to bat his eyes at you.

You shove him lightly.

“Hey Dave!” some human from the edge of the crowd interuppts.

Dave immediately turns into a rock, his face smoothing out and shades going back up.

“’Sup,” he greets.

“Comes dance with us for a little bit!” they call. “You promised me some sweet moves last year.”

Dave looks at you.

“You’ll just have to show me those moves, tomorrow,” you tell him.

“I’ll catch up with you later and tell you about tomorrow’s events,” he promises before standing up and joining the other humans.

You remain hidden underneath the tree for some time waiting for Dave to come back. You’re unsure how long it takes to ‘show someone your sweet moves.’ But it’s too long for you, so you make the decision to head to bed. The party wasn’t really for you anyway. You missed far too much at the beginning and don’t know where any of the people you actually know are. The day has mostly left you wanting to just talk to Kanaya and be around other trolls.

You really miss your home.

You head up to your room in the inn and crawl into the bed. You miss sopor too.

You miss a lot of things and this festival has only aggravated that loss.

* * *

 

The next morning you feel marginally better, having slept in. The ache for home is still present and you’d just like to be able to talk to another troll. The possibility that your friends back at the palace could be dead or in danger of dying doesn’t help at all.

You’ve spent too much time on Skaia.

“Hey,” Dave greets when you enter the kitchen.

He’s the only one there. Dressed in loose fitting pants and a plain t-shirt, he’s not exactly the picture of someone who had mention there being many events today. His sunglasses are resting on the table beside his hands, which are curled up tightly around a mug of coffee.

“I missed you last night,” he comments, eyes searching yours.

“I went to bed,” you tell Dave, sitting across from him at the table.

Dave chews his lip.

“I know you were lying last night when you said everything was fine,” he says. “So I’m going to ask you again: Is everything okay?”

You think about lying again, but know Dave will pick it up. He’s good at that.

“No,” you admit. “I miss my home. There was a lot of things in that play that just brought up a lot of bad memories and made me miss the Empire that I know exists. Not this fake one that everyone hates.”

“Oh,” he says, voice carefully neutral. “That’s understandable.”

“I was basically exiled,” you tell him. “And I don’t know when it will be safe for me to return. I just miss my friends there.”

Dave nods.

“I kind of get what it’s like,” Dave replies. “I miss Derse a lot. Some days are worse than others but it helps if I spend time with the others.”

“It’s what I do,” you inform him sheepishly. “I brood alone.”

Dave rolls his eyes.

“I won’t abandon you today,” he promises. “You probably shouldn’t have been alone last night.”

“I would have just brought you down.”

“I’m too fly, nothing can bring me down,” Dave says.

You just laugh at him. Dave laughs at his own absurdity as well.

“Where are the others?”

“They left for a ceremony at the city center, they probably won’t be back until late afternoon. I stayed behind for you.”

“You didn’t have to do that.”

Dave shrugs.

“Better dealing with your moody ass than a boring ceremony,” Dave says. “They just read poetry and there’s bunch of speeches about our freedom. We’re not missing much.”

Dave takes a sip of his coffee.

“So Can Town desperately needs a few renovations,” Dave begins. “Want to go get the Mayor and do our civic duty?”

You nod. There is nothing you want to do more than waste a few hours in Can Town with Dave and the Mayor.

(Maybe you spend a bit too much time abandoning Can Town to make out a little bit, but the Mayor’s a cool dude and doesn’t mind. As long as the two of you don't break building regulations.)

* * *

 

When the others get home, Dave and you are covered in chalk and your clothes are rumpled. Dirk is the one to collect the two of you and gives an exaggerated eye roll.

“Go get dressed love birds, we need to go set up for tonight,” he sighs, jerking his thumb backwards.

Dave scowls at his brother as the two of you stand up. Dirk waves him off and leaves the room, confident that you’ll do what he says. That’s his one of his princely quirks but in reality you’re confident that Dirk could kick your ass. You listen to him out of respect and a little bit of fear.

(Dave, as Dirk’s younger brother, has a bit of rebellious streak and the ability to get away with not listening to Dirk. That might get you into trouble someday.)

“Jane will probably be putting us on different set up teams since Dirk is going to tell her about whatever he thinks this,” Dave says as if the two of you didn’t spend the better part of the day making out in Can Town. “But I’ll find you as soon as it’s all done.”

You lean forward and press a quick kiss to Dave’s lips before hurrying off to get into a nicer set of clothes. Any longer and it might turn into the nth round of make outs that day.

As Dave foretold, Jane indeed puts you two of different set up teams. You’re with Jake and Jade, setting up the tables for the food and some extra seating. Dave is with Rose and Jane, putting the finishing touches on the food and bringing it out to set out on the tables.

It’s an easy set up though and the square looks exactly like it did last night. You’re not really sure how it all got taken down last night, but if you have a better night you’ll find out. When you’re finishing up, Carapacians and other humans start to enter the square clearly attracted by the food.

Dave finds you quickly, snagging your arm and pulling you to a table where the others are.

“You ate it when it was cold last night. Eat while it’s warm,” Jane orders and turns to look at Dave as well. “The both of you, since you skipped lunch to work on Can Town.”

“Can Town needed us to fill those potholes, Jane,” Dave retorts but he’s grabbing a plate and loading it with food.

You follow suit and Jane nods approvingly. The group starts to splinter off at this point. Jane and Roxy disappearing off to the other side of the square, while Jake and Dirk duck underneath the branches of the Last Tree to get away from all the arriving partygoers.

“You missed some good speeches this year, Dave,” John says sarcastically. “You’re lucky that Jane was worried about K so much.”

“The speeches were quite good,” Rose challenges, pursing her lips. “Well worded and eloquent, perhaps it is about time that I entered my own writing into the proverbial ring.”

“Sorry Rosie but then we’d end up missing the party,” Dave says as John and Jade both grimace at the thought.

Rose puts her hands on her hips and glares at them all.

“I think K would enjoy my writing. He seems like a well read and intelligent individual,” Rose says, turning to look at you. “Troll literature is known for having exceptionally long titles.”

“I’ll admit I have a fondness for long winded tales,” you reply shrugging because you may have stolen one, or 100, of Kanaya’s romance novels and enjoyed them all.

“Of course I’m in a relationship with someone who agrees with Rose,” Dave sighs dramatically.

“You would be so lucky to have me, if I were interested in males,” Rose counters.

“And we weren’t related,” Dave adds.

Rose rolls her eyes.

“That was implied in my statement.”

Both John and Jade let out a heavy exhale and you feel yourself joining them. The Rose and Dave verbal warfare could go on for a long time. You’d rather it didn’t take over the night. Fortunately, the music begins in the background and allows for the topic to shift.

“We should go dance!” Jade suggests. “I didn’t get to do much last night since my younger cousin decided it was a much better idea to inhale an entire bottle of liquor and get sick.”

John scowls at her.

“You would think he’d learn from his birthday,” Rose teases.

“Roxy is a terrible influence,” John mutters, crossing his arms.

“You think that John would have a natural advantage, being so tall,” Dave adds. “His body can dilute the liquor more easily.”

“You’re just jealous that you’re the third shortest of the group,” John shoots back before turning to you. “How does it feel to be dating someone with such an obvious complex about their height?”

You take a step back and measure Dave up between the other three. He’s only taller than Rose, but Rose is just tiny person. However he’s still quite a few inches below Jade. John is just, well, he’s just quite tall. As for yourself, you’re only about an inch shorter than Dave. You’re considered short for a troll, but that never really bothered you since you have been focusing on your blood colour.

“I do not have a complex about my height,” Dave argues heatedly before you get a chance to respond. “Roxy and Dirk got first dibs on the tall genes, since they’re older and left Rose and I with the bottom of the barrel short genes.”

“’Bottom of the barrel genes’ and you don’t have a complex?” Jade laughs.

“That isn’t how genetics work, Dave,” you chime in.

The other three start laughing when Dave whirls around too look at you, eyes wide behind his shades.

“Betrayed by K! And I thought we had something special,” Dave says.

“Also schooled on human genetics by a troll,” John adds.

“Maybe that theory would work in troll genetics,” you say. “Since the stronger the genes, the more likely they are to rise to the top of the incestual slurry and –“

“Stop!” Jade and John shout together.

You know far too much about troll reproduction. You suppose it’s from all the time spent with Kanaya.

“Okay let’s go dance,” Dave says, thoroughly bested by his friends. “Anything to stop this onslaught of remarks on my not at all inferior stature.”

Jade, John, and Rose all head towards the stage where an area has been roped off for dancing. You can see quite a few people already beginning to make use of the area. However, you grab Dave’s arm just as he makes a move to follow his friends.

“What is it?” he asks, his voice holding far too much concern for what you’re about to tell him.

“I've never danced before,” you admit quietly.

Dave goes from shock to utter amusement very quickly. He gets a devious smirk on his face.

“It’s not funny,” you mutter crossing your arms. “Troll are trained to fight, not flail our limbs about like idiots.”

“It’s coordinated motion, just follow the music,” Dave replies. “You’ll figure it out. Or just pick someone and copy what they're doing.”

Dave forces you towards the dance area where John, Jade, and Rose are already dancing. John is making an absolute fool of himself from the way that he dances. Jade isn’t much better, but has a bit more coordination. Rose is by far the best at it, appearing elegant and dignified albeit a bit reserved.

“Don’t copy any of them,” Dave murmurs into your ear and pushes you onto the dance floor.

The group opens up for you and Dave, who slips in seamlessly. His dancing, if you could call it that, is incredibly minute. More just bobbing along to the beat of the music, but he appears to be having a good time.

You remain rooted in your spot, just watching the vastly different ‘dancing’ occur around you. If one your friends saw you now, you’d never able to live it down. Slowly you allow the music to flow through you and take hold of your body. Once you’ve got the rhythm down, you just continually move your body in a pattern. You don’t feel nearly as self-conscious about it as you thought you would be, but that’s probably thanks to being surrounding by equally as terrible dancers.

Quite a bit of time passes on the dance floor before Rose makes the decision for the group to take a break. It happens all at once, Rose stops and looks around the circle. You don’t really understand the quiet code that passes through all of them, but they all follow Rose off the dance floor. You take up the rear.

Rose leads the group to a small table off to the side where only drinks are available. As the first to arrive and the owner of the original idea, Rose starts pouring the drinks and handing them out.

“Is this alcohol?” you ask, sniffing the cup Rose hands you.

“Yeah,” Dave says. “It’s a pretty big deal since it’s fairly rare on Skaia. Everyone donates part of their stores for the festival.”

“It has no affect on me,” you reply. “It’s just some disgustingly flavoured beverage to me.”

“More for the rest of us then,” John says, grabbing your drink.

He immediately knocks back both drinks. In response, Rose lets out an exaggerated sigh.

“Perhaps you need to spend less time with Roxy or take better care to not let her habits rub off on you, if you have any hope of keeping your relationship a secret from Jane,” Rose warns, taking a sip from her own cup.

“Or I could just blame it on the amount of time we spend in interspecies dive bars in wild space,” John suggests.

“Because that would go over so much better with Jane,” Jade says, rolling her eyes. “And not to mention untrue.”

“You’d be worrying her unnecessarily,” Dave adds.

“What relationship is being kept secret from Jane?” you ask curiously.

The four of them turn to stare at you and from the looks on their faces, it seems like they temporarily forgot you were there. You cross your arms and glare at them for that.

“John’s illicit relationship with my sister,” Rose says, voice dropping somewhat. “Jane is the only one to my knowledge to not know, since she is not traveling aboard the _Rogue_ with us.”

“It’s not illicit!” John protests. “And Jake doesn’t know either.”

“So you’re lying to both your parental figures,” Dave mutters. “That makes it so much better.”

“I liked it better when we were ragging on Dave for his height,” John mumbles.

“All you have to do is tell Jane!” Jade says angrily. “It’s not a big deal and the sooner you tell her, the better her reaction will be.”

“John has made his decision, Jade. Perhaps I should have not brought it up at all,” Rose says. “I’m sorry, John.”

John shrugs it off easily.

“I’ll tell Jane eventually. When I figure out how to tell her.”

“You say that about everything,” Dave mutters.

 “Topic officially ended!” John announces. “Why don’t we talk about Dave’s relationship?”

“Sure man, I’ve got nothing to hide,” Dave replies smirking.

Well, Dave might have nothing to hide, but you are an insanely private person. Shouting your relationship to the world isn’t exactly what you want to do. The others just all sort of knew when you and Dave finally figured out your issues. Now no one really talks about it. They tease occasionally but that is really it.

“Incoming brother,” Rose announces.

“Shit,” Dave mutters and he forces his cup at you, pretending to be casual.

Dirk walks up and slings his arm across Dave’s shoulder.

“You guys were looking kind of guilty over here,” Dirk says, looking around. “So who wants to fess up to whatever it is you’re doing?”

“Dave’s drinking,” you say and push Dave’s cup back at him.

“Nice, K’s on my side,” Dirk says.

Dave mouths ‘traitor’ at you but you just smirk. Dirk rolls his eyes and intercepts it. He takes a quick swig.

“Not even the good stuff, Dave. If you’re going to drink do it right,” Dirk says, wrinkling his nose as he passes the cup back to Dave. “Also stop trying to hide that you drink from me. You’re not a fifteen year old anymore. I got mad because you were a kid. You’re a goddamn adult who can have a drink at a social event.”

“Whatever,” Dave replies but he still doesn’t take a sip of the drink.

“So what are we discussing?” Dirk repeats.

The four of them share a look amongst each other before settling on Rose.

“Come on Rosie,” Dirk says charmingly. “You know you can’t lie to me.”

“I am quite adept at lying,” Rose protests. “Ask Roxy about my whereabouts on many nights and you’ll find her answer and the truth are quite far apart.”

Dirk just gives her an unimpressed look.

“We’re discussing Roxy,” John finally admits.

“I see,” Dirk says thoughtfully and gets a hard look on his face. “Still not telling Jane?”

“We just finished that topic actually,” John replies tightly. “And I’ve been thoroughly lectured.”

“Whatever, dude. It’s as much of your choice as it is Roxy’s and she’s not exactly lining up to tell Jane either,” Dirk says. “Sometimes you just gotta keep a secret.”

“Says the man who couldn’t lie to Jane if his life depended on it,” Dave scoffs.

“Ain’t cool to lie to your best friend, little man,” Dirk replies.

“That makes me feel so much better,” John remarks.

“Alright then, now that I know what you five are up to, I can enjoy the party in peace,” Dirk says and he ruffles Dave’s hair before disappearing into the crowd.

“So you say he can’t lie to Jane and yet he won’t tell her about this?” you question.

“The topic is over!” John nearly shouts.

“It’s a secret. So he’s not actually lying to her but I can tell that it’s bothering him that he hasn’t told her,” Rose clarifies. “But John is correct, the topic is over. I also think we are thoroughly rested.”

“Back to dancing!” Jade announces and herds you all back to the dance area.

The celebration is much better with company. You rotate between awkwardly shuffling on the dance floor and standing by the drink table. The humans get slightly more intoxicated with each trip and you find it highly amusing as Rose begins to stumble over her own words.

When the party winds down you hardly notice, too involved in trying to understand Dave’s intoxicated mind. John has long since gone to bed. While Jade and Rose lasted a bit longer, they too both have already turned in for the night. Dave vehemently denies wanting to go to bed, stating that he wants to be there when you make it to the end of the night.

But the party has to end and soon the partygoers are clearing out of the square. A few remain behind to help put away the tables while the food has found good homes with many others. You step up to help as well, but Jane shoos you off.

“Go put Dave to bed,” she orders, looking over to where you left Dave. “I don’t trust him going up those stairs. He won’t admit it but he can’t hold his liquor any better than Rose.”

“Are you sure?” you ask, looking around the square.

There are a lot of tables to be put away and not a lot of help remaining.

“Jake, Dirk, and I have got this,” Jane assures you. “Go to bed, K.”

You turn back to fetch Dave.

“I told you to go to bed,” you tell him, unimpressed.

“I didn’t want to sleep alone,” Dave confesses. “If I didn’t wait you’d go back to your room and we’d both be alone.”

You roll your eyes and give him a gentle push towards the side house’s front door. As Jane suspected, Dave has some struggles with the stairs on his way to his bedroom. Lucky for him you’re there to support him.

It takes a great deal of force to manhandle Dave into bed, but eventually you manage to get him underneath his quilt. The worst part is trying to remove his shades without breaking them as Dave insists that he sleep with them on. Although you want to go to your own room and strip off your clothes, you’re highly tempted to sleep next to Dave. It’s comforting and helps with the nightmares.

Your want outvotes your need and you end up crawling into Dave’s bed next to him. He immediately plasters himself to you, tangling your legs together and wrapping his arms around your torso. He buries his face into your hair and exhales deeply.

“I don’t want you to leave,” he mumbles.

You inhale sharply.

“But you’ve got another life somewhere in this galaxy, one without me,” he continues. “But for now, let’s just pretend this is a whirlwind summer romance where neither of us want to admit it will end. Like the beginning of  _Grease_."

You don’t understand the reference, but you do understand pretending that this will never end. Dave pouring his heart to you touches you deeply. It even brings out your guilt for not telling him who you really are.

“Okay,” you reply, mouth dry.

“Good,” Dave hums, pleased.

He nuzzles into the side of your face before shuffling back somewhat. Dave promptly falls asleep. Even though you’re tired as well, you can’t help but be overwhelmed by your emotions. Someday, you’re going to have to leave Skaia. And Dave is going to be unwilling to abandon Skaia to come with you. You’re already reluctant to remain on Skaia, missing your friends far too much. Plus, you’re far too important to the structure of the Empire to spend the rest of your days on Skaia, working at an inn.

Inevitably, the warmth of Dave’s body and his steady breathing lull you to sleep. You push aside the thoughts of the your departure from Skaia to the back of your mind.

You’ll cross that bridge when you get there.

* * *

 

When you wake up on the fourth day of the festival, Dave is completely wrapped around you. He’s still asleep and unknowingly keeping you tightly bound to your position in bed. You’re goal for the day is to get back to your room without providing a show for the other humans in the house.

“Dave,” you grumble and shove his arm.

Dave mumbles something that you don’t quite catch and turns to face you. He blinks tiredly while a crooked grin spreads out across his face.

“Morning,” he murmurs.

“What are we doing today?” you ask. “Should we be getting up?

“The fourth day is the celebration of Prospit and Derse, just a traditional ceremony with the Carapacians,” Dave replies after some thought. “Basically everyone just goes and watches the Carapacians do a cute little dance for about an hour. Jane and Dirk get flower crowns. We all sing a song. It’s at noon though.”

“Oh,” you reply so eloquently.

“So go back to sleep,” Dave replies.

Dave’s eyes shut and he rolls over, releasing his hold on you. The problem is, you aren’t exactly tired having woken up naturally. At least Dave let go of you and you are now free to leave. Tempting as it is to remain in bed with Dave, you have once again made the mistake of sleeping in yesterday’s clothes. Changing as quickly as possible is your main priority.

“Not really the sleeping-in type,” you say to Dave, who just grunts in response. “I’m going to head down for breakfast.”

“Whatever floats your boat, man,” Dave replies, his voice already half whisper as he falls back asleep.

You get up and head downstairs. No one is in the kitchen; apparently everyone is sleeping in today. It makes it easier to slip back to your room and get changed. However, you are now seemingly the sole being awake in the inn. There aren’t even any patrons in the main room. The fourth day of the festival is apparently a lie-in day.

After getting changed, you decide to take a chance with the comm unit, which has been ignored since you arrived on Skaia. If it were time for you to go back to the Empire, Jake would’ve known first, making the comm unit redundant. Seating yourself at the desk, you turn on the well-worn comm unit. It’s obvious that it has been patched together from scraps, possibly specifically for your use.

It flickers to life but immediately cuts to static. You double check and yes, it’s on the Empire frequency. The Empire is still in a state of emergency and turmoil then. Those behind the assassination attempt must be a strong group with many threads to eliminate. Angrily, you hit the off switch and lean backwards in your chair.

You wish you could learn something, _anything,_ about what’s going on in the Empire. Even if it was to learn that your friends are losing and soon there would be a mercenary on their way to Skaia to murder you. The silence is slowly killing you. Being cut off from the Empire, your home, is very similar to when you left Alternia for good after the rebellion began.

With a sigh of frustration, you get up from your desk and decide to return to the kitchen of the side house. You’re far too antsy after checking the comm unit. A poor choice on your end.

Arriving in the kitchen, you thankfully are greeted by Jade. She will help distract you from the suffocating thoughts.

“Morning, K!” she chirps and then gets a sly look in her eye. “Sleep well?”

“I slept solidly,” you reply, emphasizing the ‘slept.’

She giggles.

“I’m glad you’re awake, I have something I need to run by you,” she says.

You raise an eyebrow in response, waiting for her to continue.

“So tomorrow’s the last day of the festival and it’s specifically about remembrance,” Jade begins. “We take the lanterns to the edge of the city and release them into the night sky. Each one represents someone who was lost. More specifically, those of us who are living remember who we were way back then. Most of us will dress up in traditional Prospitian or Dersite outfits.”

“And this has to do with me how?”

“Well, I wanted to include you! There is a part of you that's being pushed away, like our lives on Prospit and Derse. So I got you an outfit to reflect that!"

“What kind of outfit?” you question suspiciously.

“Follow me!” she calls and is already out of the kitchen.

You reluctantly follow Jade to her own room, directly across the hall from Dave’s. If this turns out to be a really bad, you can flee to the safety of his room. As soon as you enter Jade’s room, a shroud of black fabric is thrust into your face.

“Here!” Jade says. “Try this on!”

You take it from her, feeling the fabric with your hands. It’s almost completely black just lined with candy red at the edges and seams. It’s a familiar enough scheme to pass by in the Empire. Most trolls wear black clothes lined with their blood colour. Except you. You wear grey.

“It’s probably not your style, but it’s the best I could find on short notice,” Jade tells you, sounding nervous. “I need you to try it on so I can get Rose to adjust it before tomorrow, if necessary. I’ll let you use my room!”

She steps out and shuts the door behind her, leaving you alone. You stand there for some time, staring at the robe in your hand. Jade was wrong on two counts. It was quite similar to the robe you arrived in, but that one had been covered in flecks of Eridan’s blood. Secondly, wearing a candy red lined robe wouldn’t fit the theme of ‘who you were’ since you’ve never accepted your blood colour.

Now is as good as time as ever, you suppose. You carefully don the rob and it really does remind you of something Kanaya forced on you when Feferi had publically announced you were now part of the council. Dignitaries need to dress correctly. Surprisingly, the black cloth falls in all the right places. It’s neither too tight nor too loose.

You pull the door open to show Jade, who is now conversing with Dave in the hallway. Both humans turn to see you. Jade gives you a humongous grin and Dave gives a thumbs up.

“Told you it would fit,” Dave says to Jade. “I gave you the right measurements.”

“I don’t even want to know how you figured that out,” you deadpan.

Dave smirks at you and your cheeks get slightly warm.

“I thought you were going to sleep in?” you ask.

“Eh, kind of hard to fall back asleep when the warmth left,” Dave replies and you roll your eyes at him.

“Go get changed before you wreck it too much!” Jade scolds, shooing you back into her room.

You get changed carefully before rejoining Jade and Dave back in the hallway.

“How much did this cost you?” you ask, examining the fabric more thoroughly.

Being friends with Kanaya has had the side effect of learning about fashion, whether you like it or not.

“That’s not an issue,” Jade says waving you off. “It’s my present to you, for your first Freedom Festival.”

“Thanks,” you reply genuinely.  “It’s been a long time since I’ve gotten a gift.”

Jade beams so brightly at you, you think you might go blind. At least she doesn’t try to hug you, but she does look like she might burst. Dave is smiling at you too. The open affection is making you uncomfortable.

“I should take this up to my room,” you say after a few moments of enduring their looks.

“We’ll meet you back in the kitchen,” Dave nods and he and Jade turn to each other, returning to their previous conversation.

For the second time that morning, you make the trek back up to your room. You consider asking Dave if you could just share his room along the way. It seems he wants you there and it’s a hassle going back and forth from the inn and the side house. You don’t have many belongings either, a few outfits and you’d probably bring the comm unit. That’s about it.

You reconsider when thinking about the unknown of human relationship standards. It might be considered some sort of taboo. For now you’ll remain in the inn. Dave might even bring it up himself, if you decide to make a big enough deal of it. He’s good like that.

You delicately place the black robe on the dresser, carefully folding it up on itself. Things aren’t cheap on Skaia; nicer things can cost a small fortune. You don’t want to wreck Jade’s nice gift because you naturally don’t care about most of your belongings. It takes a lot of effort to not snag the fabric with your claws.

You spend a little more time just looking at the gift. The gesture is actually quite touching and only makes it more painful that you miss your friends so terribly, while loving your time on Skaia.

Dave and Jade are in the kitchen as promised, sitting at the table and enjoying a quiet conversation. The dynamic between Dave and Jade is more unique compared to the ones they share with the others. When alone, the two of them are much more subdued and open with each other. Dave is no longer an obnoxious prick and Jade isn’t over the top excited. You like interacting with them like this.

“Hey,” Dave greets as you slip into the seat next to him. “What took you so long?”

“It’s been like five minutes,” you mumble irately.

“More like 10 and half,” Dave retorts.

 “How the fuck do you know that?” you ask.

Dave shrugs.

“Seriously, though what took you so long?” Dave questions again.

“Just thinking about some stuff,” you reply. “Nothing big.”

“Didn’t take you for an airhead like Harley,” Dave teases.

“Hey!” Jade interjects. “I just like to daydream a lot!”

Dave snorts and shakes his head. The banter between them continues, now with you interjecting every so often. No one comes downstairs for quite sometime. It’s one of the most enjoyable mornings you’ve had in a long while.

The rest of the day slips by in a pleasant blur.

You eat a late breakfast once everyone else arrives in the kitchen or ‘brunch’ as the humans are fond of calling it, before heading out to the ceremony in the main square. Dirk and Jane are separated from the group as soon as you all arrive, pulled away by eager Carapacians. The rest of you find a spot to watch on the side.

Most of the ceremony is completely unknown to you. You don’t understand the songs or the meaning behind any of the gestures, but at some point both Dirk and Jane are at the center of a group of Dersites or Prospitians, respectively. Both of them are given a flower crown and pulled into an even more frenzied dance and song. To be honest, the colours rapidly spinning around starts to hurt your eyes.

The party has a more subdued tone than the previous two nights, as it had been mentioned before, but you follow the same pattern as the previous night. You find yourself alternating between the dance area and the drinks table with John, Jade, Rose, and Dave.

The night ends similarly to the previous, but with Dave much less intoxicated. Again, you find yourself getting into Dave’s bed with him. However, this time you have the foresight to shed some extra layers. No need to start being so self-conscious anymore. It’s not like Dave hasn’t already seen you without your shirt. The wiggler scars are nothing new to him.

You’re remarkably exhausted when you get under the covers and for the first time fall asleep before Dave.

* * *

 

The next day everything is incredibly somber in the side house. The humans are all quiet and reserved, something you are not use to. There’s always something for them to bicker about or they find some reason to be noisy.

It’s the final day of the Freedom Festival, the Day of Remembrance as you’ve heard it called and the quiet air was probably to be expected. But you were completely unprepared, like most parts of the festival, for the drastic mood shift as compared to the previous day. Even the patrons of the inn are subdued.

Today truly is a day of mourning.

You particularly feel out of place among the humans. Quiet, sad atmospheres have never been something you’ve dealt with or even experienced. The humans spend much of the day quietly moving about in a mechanical routine, all lost in their own thoughts. You spend a lot of time in Can Town with the Mayor, the only other individual who is seemingly not deeply buried in their own grief.

Can Town provides a minor respite from the humans. It gives you time to think if this is what it’s like when you brood. Maybe you’ll have to apologize to Kanaya and Terezi for your behaviour when you get back home.

However, Dave finds you eventually.

You’re deeply invested in a discussion of rebuilding a part of the public sector with the Mayor and don’t immediately notice his arrival. The Mayor, however, stops listening to you and beams upwards at the door. You turn to follow the Mayor’s gaze. Dave stands at the entrance of Can Town, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Sorry about all this,” he apologizes quietly. “Probably should’ve given you a heads up that things take a proverbial dive off of the emotional high we were all riding yesterday.”

“It’s fine,” you reply. “I get it.”

“I came to tell you that you should probably go put on that robe Jade got you,” Dave says and you feel your heart sink that he’s not actually here to spend time with you. “It’s almost time to go.”

You nod and turn to say goodbye to the Mayor. When you look back up to the door, Dave is already gone. You sigh deeply before heading to your room.

The robe is still sitting where you left it yesterday. You take your time putting it on, staring at the window and attempting to memorize the soft glow of Skaia. After today all the lanterns will be gone and the city will be lit with a much more harsh light.

Once dressed in your black robe, you intend on heading to the side house. Instead the eight humans are all gathered in the main room of the inn, which is now entirely empty. You have no idea when all the patrons left but assume it’s a part of the ceremony. All the humans are dressed in very fine clothing like you. Jade, Jane, Jake, and John are all wearing gold – the colour of Prospit – while Dave, Dirk, Roxy, and Rose are wearing purple – the colour of Derse.

The Nobles of Derse and Prospit truly stand before you today.

Maybe it’s your inner dignitary and the tiny voice of Kanaya in your head, or maybe you’ve just completely lost it, but you feel a need to behave in a manner befitting of nobles. You’re even dressed as the councilmember you are. At least you’ll have a leg up on all the other trolls when it comes to dealing with humans when you return to the Empire.

“There he is,” Jade says and she gives you a soft smile.

You nod at her and make your way across the room to join them. They are all silent, only half paying attention to your arrival. The humans are still lost in their thoughts of grief.

“Looking good,” Dave whispers.

He nor Dirk are wearing their shades in the formal environment. Still, you scowl at him even though you’re secretly happy to see his eyes.

Time ticks by as the nine of you wait quietly in the inn. You’re not quite sure what’s supposed to be happening. The humans are all so patient, waiting calmly in the main room of the inn. None of them show any signs of outward distress. The only negativity is your own anxiety over feeling out of place among the human’s open displays of mourning.

It’s when the sun begins to dip beneath the skyline of Skaia that the humans finally begin to change.

“It’s time,” Dirk murmurs to Jane.

She nods at him and Dirk offers his arm. Jane takes it and the two of them step forward to exit outside. The rest of the humans continue to wait.

At first, you’re unaware of how Dirk was able to determine that it was time but you quickly figure it out. You hear them first. The low hymn of the Carapacians. You see them arriving next, the glow of their lanterns emitting a coat of light around them as they arrive in the square.

“C’mon,” Dave murmurs and tugs your arm.

The others have already disappeared while you were staring out the window. Only you and Dave remain in the main room of the inn. You nod at him and allow Dave to lead you through to the side house and out its front door. The others are there, carefully removing the lanterns from the house.

Jane and Dirk are standing, arm in arm, in front of the inn waiting for the Carapacians to completely surround them. The hymn is getting louder as the Carapacians arrive. It’s a slow and morose tune, but even you can feel the deep emotions behind it.

“Here,” Dave says and he’s offering you the lantern he strung up at the beginning of the festival.

“What about you?” you question.

“I have Dirk’s,” Dave explains and he holds up the lantern originally belonging to Dirk.

Dirk and Jane don’t have any lanterns to themselves. John also seems to be taking charge of Jane’s.

“Are you sure?” you ask, still not taking the offered lantern.

“Yeah,” Dave says. “Most years I’d carry them both by myself, but I want you take mine. Think of it like meeting my mom.”

You’re not really sure of the implication of ‘meeting a mom’ is but Dave’s eyes are wide and sincere. After a slight pause you take his lantern. Dave smiles at you briefly before turning to face Dirk and Jane.

The crowd of Carapacians has completely engulfed them now. A few members of the crowd step forward and begin to drape the two of them in strings of flowers. Jane and Dirk both accept them wordlessly, bowing down so all Carapacians can easily place the flowers. Their decoration ends when they are both bestowed with floral crowns and the two of them rise as the Prince of Derse and the Maid of Prospit. Their faces are complex mixes emotions. Grief over the loss of their family, their people, and their home but there's a deep love and compassion for those who are still alive.

Finally, two small Carapacians step forward and hand Dirk and Jane two large lanterns. A gold one for Jane and a purple one for Dirk. They are the bearers of the lanterns representing Derse and Prospit.

Dirk looks at Jane and she nods at him. The two of them turn in unison and begin to walk through the crowd, the Carapacians parting for their leaders. The crowd curls in on itself and follows after Dirk and Jane. The humans you’re standing with are quick to join in with the crowd, blending in seamlessly. You quickly lose track of them.

Thankfully, Dave waits for you. He offers you his hand and after a brief hesitation you take it. He then leads you into the crowd. Soon the two of you are part of the march through the streets of Skaia. You remember being told that the lanterns are released on the edge of the city. That’s also where the seeds of the Last Tree are planted.

Dave never lets go of your hand throughout the entire march. You’re glad since letting go would mean immediate separation. You also want to think that maybe Dave doesn’t want to let of your hand because he likes it. It’s certainly a feeling you find pleasant.

The Carapacians never stop with their hymn. It takes a short time before you notice that Dave is singing along too, his voice low and raspy. Even with a human singing, you still don’t understand the words. But the music begins to rise and becomes slightly more joyous. You appreciate that this is a choral both grieving and celebrating the lives of those who were lost. The song finally comes to a slow end, decrescendoing with a repeating verse.

The edge of the city is at first a barren wasteland. Nothing grows in the dirt, an obvious remnant of Skaia’s war filled history. Then the progeny of the Last Tree stand strong, all growing steadily. You do not know how long this project has been going on for, but the trees already loom over the crowd.

The population of Skaia pours in from many of the streets, all crowding around a stage. You watch as Dirk and Jane climb up and rise above the crowd, holding their lanterns up to the sky. The two of them make the quite the pair, dressed in their nice outfits and covered in flowers. Would Jane and Dirk be as close as they are today if it weren’t for the war? You vaguely remember a mention of Derse and Prospit hostilities a long time ago. Maybe the two of them would lead their planets to unity.

“For those we lost,” Jane announces.

“Their sacrifices will never be forgotten,” Dirk adds.

The two of them turn around; arms still linked together, and release their lanterns together. The gold and purple lanterns float up towards the sky and once they reach a certain distance, the crowd begins to release their lanterns as well. Thousands of glowing orbs fill the sky, blotting out the stars.

You’re still holding your lantern when Dave turns to you. He’s already released Dirk’s.

“Let her go, man,” he tells you.

You look at the lantern in your hand and suddenly releasing it seems like the hardest task in the world. To Dave it means one thing, but to you, taking part in this deeply significant Skaian festival is almost like abandoning your friends in the Empire. It didn’t really hit you until just now, but your involvement in the Freedom Festival is integrating you further into life on Skaia. It’s getting harder to think about leaving everyday.

“Here,” Dave says and slips the lantern into your joint hands so that both of you are holding it. “Together.”

You nod and Dave counts down from three. When he reaches one, you allow your fingers to slip off the handle. The lantern floats off to join the others. You quickly lose sight of it amongst the cloud of lanterns.

“It’s okay,” Dave assures you and it’s as if he completely understands the turmoil in your mind.

Your hand drops back to your side, but Dave is quick to retake it into his. He squeezes it tightly. The two of you watch the lanterns float up into space for a very long time. By the time you stop, most of the crowd has left. The rest of your friends are gathering by the stage and have splintered off into familial pairs, except for Dirk who is watching the two of you intently.

“Go be with Dirk,” you tell Dave.

He nods and releases your hand. You watch Dave as he hurries towards Dirk. Dirk pulls his brother into a tight hug, an action that is very uncharacteristic for both of them. But today has been a day of being out of character, so you suppose it fits.

You’re not really sure where to go after that, returning to feeling like an intruder. So you go back to watching the cloud of lanterns disappear into the darkness of space. You wonder where they end up. If they’re just going to some spot on the other side of Skaia where thousands of burnt out lanterns have previously crashed to the ground.

Finally, the lanterns drift from view and you approach the group. It’s more or less in pairs now, everyone having moved closer to one another on the stage.

“So how was your first Freedom Festival?” Jade asks as you come closer.

“It was unique,” you reply dryly. “But I found bits and pieces of it to be enjoyable.”

Jade rolls her eyes at you.

“It’s getting late,” Jane announces.

Everyone seems to agree because you didn’t even get a chance to sit down before the humans are all standing. Dave comes back to your side and bumps his shoulder into yours.

“Call your mom and ask if can sleep over at my house tonight,” he says.

“I don’t have a mom,” you scoff..

Dave lets out a dramatic sigh.

“My comedic genius is lost on you,” he complains.

“Your comedy is just lost,” Dirk says from Dave’s other side.

“Everyone I love, ganging up on me,” Dave complains. “Will I ever find someone to take me as I am?”

“You’re stuck with us,” you reply, amused at Dave’s theatrics.

“Maybe you shouldn’t criticize those of us who are staying, since you’re personality isn’t exactly attracting others,” Dirk adds solemnly.

You’re quite happy to be getting along with Dirk for once. Out of all the humans, he’s the one you find the most difficult to get along with. You find him mildly threatening and unsettling sometimes. Through mutual teasing of Dave, maybe you’ll find a middle ground.

The nine of you make your way back to the inn, the somber mood of earlier gone with the lanterns. There’s a general jubilance throughout the city. The lanterns brought about a release for the civilians and now they can go about their lives without the heavy weight of loss on their shoulders every day.

Back at the inn, everyone quietly says goodnight and heads to their respective rooms. You follow Dave into his, taking his earlier comment as an invitation. Neither of you speak as you both remove your outfits, stepping out of them like you're shedding a layer of skin.

You slip into bed and easily mould into one another. Dave falls asleep quickly but you’re plagued with thoughts about how much you like the humans of Skaia and how fond you’ve grown of Dave.

Everyday, it’s getting harder to even think about leaving. Somehow those thoughts feel like a betrayal to your home in the Empire. You want to be K for some more time.

Maybe you really were mourning the loss of who you were today.

You were mourning the loss of Karkat Vantas.

* * *

 

You spend most of the time with Dave in your room (other than in Can Town but sometimes things get a little intense for the Mayor to be watching). It’s separated from the side house and generally free of interruptions from Dave’s family. Most of the time you end up making out on your bed, whatever thing the two of you were doing before being shoved off to the side.

It’s a little harder to get privacy in Dave’s room since Jake has returned to the Empire and Dirk is still in his ‘Jake Left Again’ mood. He’s prone to bursting into Dave’s room demanding a strife or that Dave help him out with a build. Being in the inn forces Dirk to cross paths with Jane who will put his energy to a more constructive use.

Today’s no different. Dave’s lying on your bed below you and you’ve got your arms on either side of his head. It’s nice to just have someone to kiss whenever you feel like it.

“Hey,” Dave says when you pull back slightly, “did you know that pile of shit comm of yours is going crazy?”

“What?” you question, furrowing your brow.

“Yeah it’s been driving me nuts. Actually kind of thought it didn’t work since it’s off every time I’m up here,” Dave says and he leans up to kiss you again.

However, you have other plans as you roll off of him and march over to your desk. The comm is indeed going off wildly. It’s flickering from poor service, being so far out from the source of the signal. It’s just the troll Empire’s sigil presented on the screen but it’s better than the static that you’ve been receiving since you arrived on Skaia a few months ago.

“Dude come on,” Dave sighs from the bed. “Turn it off and let’s get back to the good stuff.”

“Not now,” you say and adjust the knobs slightly to get a clearer signal.

The symbol steadies and just as are about to celebrate the success, the comm unit dies.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!” you chant, slamming the side of the unit. “I was so close!”

Dave groans and gets up from the bed. He pushes you off to the side a little bit. You’re surprised he’s even helping you. Dave does not want you to leave and more immediately he wants you to get back to making out.

Nevertheless, he always likes to make you happy, so that’s probably winning out. (The same goes for you.)

“Here,” Dave says and he pries off the back of the unit. “Jane needs to leave the engineering to the actual engineers.”

You tap your foot impatiently as Dave fiddles in the back of the unit. He hums quietly under his breath, trying to tune you out. After a few minutes, the screen flickers back to life and the Imperial symbol is displayed again.

“You did it!” you gasp.

“Damn I’m good,” Dave smirks and puts the back on the unit. “What’s so damn important about this anyway?”

“It means that the Empire is no longer under a state of emergency,” you reply and it feels so good to know that there is no longer a complete unknown. “Look! It’s starting!”

The symbol switches off and you’re presented with a high blood legislacerator standing at a podium. She begins to speak in Alternian and it’s like music to your ears, having only heard and spoken a mix of the Common tongue of humans and Skaian for so long.

“What’s she saying?” Dave asks curiously.

“I’ll tell you in a minute, just listen,” you hiss.

The legislacerator explains, to your relief that the usurpers have been put down and the Empire is on the road to recovery. You relay this information to Dave. She goes on to mention that there are still three very important fugitives running from the law and will be brought to justice. Anyone with information on their whereabouts will be rewarded handsomely. Your stomach drops when the first ‘wanted’ image appears.

It’s Feferi. The wrong usurpers lost. How far does the corruption go into Feferi’s Empire?

“Hey that’s the Empress,” Dave whispers. “She's wanted for treason? That’s pretty weird considering she’s the Empress.”

“You can read Alternian?” you ask slowly.

“Intercepting messages and shit,” Dave replies casually.

Kanaya’s face is shown next. Your blood runs cold. You know whose face is next. You’re incredibly tempted to turn the comm off but you know that would make Dave suspicious. You also need to know more about the state of the Empire. Most importantly, where are your friends?

“Hey that’s you,” Dave says and then falters. His voice picks up, stony and cold. “Karkat Vantas, rebel leader and counsellor for the Usurper Feferi Peixes.”

“Dave,” you start, turning to look at him. 

“Don’t,” he replies, voice hard. “You’ve been lying to all of us. You’ve been lying to _me_.”

“I haven’t really,” you argue. “Jake and Jane have a deal with Feferi in case of situations like this.”

Dave’s brow furrows in confusion and anger.

“Telling people would risk drawing my enemies here,” you add.

Dave scowls deeply at this.

“Who did you think I was going to tell?” he demands. “Do you not trust me? Did you think I was immediately going to run off and alert the authorities that we were harbouring a fugitive?”

“No! I do trust you,” you reply heatedly. “It’s just – I didn’t want you to hate me for being so close to the Empress and being such a big part of the Empire! I know you aren’t our biggest fan.”

“Why would that even matter?” Dave asks angrily. “I like _you_ and that wasn’t going to change just because you’re part of the Empire. I thought you knew me better than that!”

You bite your lip, annoyed at yourself for saying those stupid things.

“I wanted to tell you, I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. I _like_ being K. I didn’t want to be Karkat here,” you admit. “It would mean admitting that I’d have to actually leave here one day.”

Dave’s gaze softens a little bit and you think he’s starting to understand your motivations under layers of confusing bullshit excuses.

That’s when Jade chooses to ram down your door.

“K! I saw the broadcast!” she exclaims and she freezes upon seeing Dave. “Fuck.”

“You told Jade,” Dave states.

It’s not a question. You nod.

“Fuck this,” he growls and pushes his way past Jade and out of the room.

“K – I’m,” Jade begins.

“Jade,” you sigh heavily. “Just call me Karkat. It’s not your fault.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” she asks hesitantly.

You look back at the comm unit; the broadcast is still going on. You would have liked some support knowing that your friends are probably dead and in a short time, you will be too.

“I’d just like to be alone for now,” you tell her quietly.

“Dave will come around,” Jade promises before shutting the door.

You’re not so sure of that. Dave is the type to hold grudges, evident by his intense dislike of the Empire that continued even though he was beginning to understand it more.

When you focus back in on the broadcast, the legislacerator is discussing the consequences of supporting Feferi.

“Those found abetting the known usurper Feferi Peixes or any of the known fugitives will be swiftly dealt with,” she says firmly and then grins, her sharp teeth glinting in the light. “To dissuade anyone from even thinking about it, may I present to you you’re rebel leaders!”

You watch in horror as your friends are marched onto the stage, in chains. Each of them looks terrible, the bags under their eyes more pronounced than ever and their skin is stained with their own blood. It startles you how remarkably meek each and every one of them look.

Even Vriska is subdued. Her long black hair obscures her face as she refuses to look up, far too ashamed of her failure. You spot Eridan, wearing the guard uniform you last saw him in.

It’s still stained dark violet with his blood.

You wonder if his wound healed properly during the months of fighting. Or if he’d let it fester since his moirail wasn’t there to do anything about it.

You wonder how long they’ve been captive for. How long have the conspirators been holding them prisoners, just waiting to show them to the Empire? Has this broadcast been timed so that your friends would appear broken to the entire Empire? How long has the enemy been waiting to shatter the spirit of the Empire after being in the dark for long?

You clench your fists together. You should be with them. You should be with your friends.

Instead you’re a sitting duck on Skaia with a rapidly growing target on your back.

“I’d like to thank a very special ally,” the legislacerator continues. “Who aided in bringing these criminals to justice. Since many were in favour of the Usurper’s Empire, we needed to cripple her inner council as quickly as possible to best crush the dreams of her supporters.”

You’ll kill them yourself. Who betrayed your friends? Who did you all let in and then tore you all down?

“The newest Subjugglator, Gamzee Makara. He is truly a hero to the Empire.”

You feel yourself screaming, but don’t really hear it. The blood is rushing in your ears far too loudly to hear anything.

Gamzee walks onto the stage in a hilariously poor fitting Subjugglator uniform. Back when you were young and on Alternia, you would have found this endearing. Now, you just want to kill him.

He’s a far cry from the friend you once knew. Even though that friend was but a poor imitation of your dearly loved moirail, Gamzee. Your former moirail, who became increasingly distant during the rebellion and would later develop a kismesistude with Terezi. Which was completely unacceptable to you.

Gamzee’s eyes are a dark orange and he’s got a sinister look on his face, befitting of a member of his blood caste. You glare at him and wish you could leap through the comm unit and kill him yourself.

You’ve never hated someone as much as you’ve hated Gamzee in that moment.

“How could you?” you shout, hands gripping the sides of the comm. “They're our friends and you betrayed them!”

Gamzee gives the crowd a brief wave before turning away and returning back to where he appeared from.

“That concludes our notice,” the legislacerator announces. “The Empire will be restored to its former glory and our leader will be taking his place as our true ruler once again.”

With a feral growl you pick the comm up and throw it at the wall. It smashes into a million pieces before they all come raining to the ground.

You stumble backwards, knocking over the desk chair, and fall onto the bed.

“I’m a dead man,” you tell yourself. “I’m fucking dead.”

It’s only a matter time before the ‘true ruler of the Empire' finds you. Only a matter of time before all of Skaia pays for your crimes.

You feel the tears well up. It’s been a long time since you’ve cried. It’s been a long time since you’ve felt so angry or upset or afraid. You’ve probably never felt this violent before – a result of your mutant blood.

That’s when you realize something very important about what the legislacerator said.

You jerk up from the bed and stare at the destroyed comm unit.

You need to get back to the Empire.

You need to go home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And a reminder that there's actually a plot to this story (unlike my other fics!). I'll get the next chapter up as soon as I can!
> 
> I'm on tumblr as [pyyrrhanikos ](http://pyyrrhanikos.tumblr.com). Any questions about the fic or my writing should be directed there!  
> My main blog is [jjanecrocker ](http://jjanecrocker.tumblr.com), which is for all my fandom related things.  
> There's also a world building page with plenty of information on the universe here: [isaaclehigh (project UT) ](http://isaaclehigh.tumblr.com/projectut)! Lot's of information I put together for no reason other than I think about stuff like this way to much. (I also have character designs, which I might release some day but I'm not the best artist). There is also a pretty tiny spoiler on the page but it's nothing too major and directly related to the plot of _this_ story of the the 'verse.
> 
> I edit myself, so if you spot any mistakes please let me know!!
> 
> Thanks for reading! I appreciate you for reading, commenting, and/or leaving kudos. It means the world for to me! <3


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A carefree life was never meant for Karkat Vantas, not even as K.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Please take note of the increased violence warnings in the tags!! It's nothing extremely graphic but still a fair amount of violence.**
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> So here we are at the end. Thanks everyone for reading up to this point and I hope you enjoy the final chapter of _Uncharted Territory._ For more information on the future of this series see the bottom! There's a few more references to Problem Sleuth in this one, which aren't as blatant as the ones last chapter but they are there! (Also, if you haven't read PS, go read it. It's a masterpiece.)
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> (Also I think I went a little overboard describing Kanaya).

**3 SWEEPS AGO**

* * *

_You arrive in the office formerly belonging to Her Imperial Condescension, although you suppose it belongs to Feferi now. Well, Empress Feferi that is. The Feferi you know enjoys her small quarters with the rest of her friends in the south wing of the Imperial Palace._

_The guard standing outside allows you to enter with little hesitation. Eridan has selected only his most trustworthy agents to guard Feferi when he’s unable to do it himself. Which is never these days, since he’s too busy trying to put together a competent Imperial Guard._

_But isn’t that what you’re all doing? Trying to piece back this Empire and make it whole again? Your rebellion and the troll-human war have ruined Imperial space. It’s your jobs to fix it._

_But you’re all just kids._

_The office is a mess when you step inside. Papers are strewn everywhere, covering every surface they can. There’s also an alarming amount of glitter that you’re sure Feferi will have cleaned out shortly. She’s never been a big fan of glitter._

_“What is all this, Feferi?” you ask, carefully stepping over a box of bedazzled folders._

_“The Condesce’s files,” Feferi calls out._

_She’s on the floor, hunched over a box and rifling through it desperately. She’s looking for answers. Maybe on how to be the Empress. Maybe on how the Condesce went wrong. Or maybe something else entirely._

_“Eridan said this was urgent,” you drawl. “I have a lot of work do, so I can’t really help you sort through files.”_

_“It is urgent!” Feferi exclaims, whirling around to face you. “I really need your help!”_

_You walk over to her and kneel down, crumpling a couple papers. Hopefully they aren’t important for the Empire 20 sweeps into the future._

_“I need you to keep a secret,” Feferi begs. “This is really important, KK.”_

_She adopted the nickname from Sollux and since Feferi is one of your friends whose company you regularly enjoy, you let it slide. Even if Sollux gave you the name to annoy the piss out of you when you were younger._

_“Shouldn’t you be talking to Eridan about this?” you ask carefully, touchy about the subject of pale romance since Gamzee ended yours so recently. “His job is to help you with the emotional burden of secrets.”_

_“I can’t tell him,” Feferi stresses. “He’d flip the glub out. Anyone else would, which is why I called you.”_

_“Because I’m so level headed and calm,” you remark sarcastically._

_“It’s because you’re the least prone to violence,” Feferi cuts in. “When I tell you this, you won’t immediately jump to the offense and fly around the galaxy looking to kill the perpetrator.”_

_Of course. It always comes back around to your mutant blood._

_“Just another reason you’re glad you immediately redefined culling,” you respond glumly. “Keep me around for my uses as a mutant. Leader of the low blood and now keeper of secrets.”_

_“And you’re my friend!” Feferi tells you angrily, fins fanning out in indignation. “I care about you, KK, and I wasn’t about to let you be killed for being born! No one should be killed for who they are.”_

_You sigh heavily. Feferi’s right. You can be quite dramatic when it comes to your blood colour._

_“Alright what’s the secret?” you ask._

_“These letters of correspondence,” Feferi says and hands you a packet of paper. “They’re to the Condesce from someone named ‘L.E.’ and this L.E. was giving her orders, which she was following.”_

_You skim over the short instructions contained in each message. These are certainly decrees the Condesce had made over the years._

_“These go back for hundreds of sweeps,” Feferi murmurs, voice low and foreboding. “The Condesce was never truly in charge of this Empire.”_

_“That’s not good,” you reply flatly._

_“I know.”_

_“What does this mean for the future of the Empire? Your future, Feferi? You stole this from someone else, someone who is still out there,” you say, voice rising with agitation. “Whoever this is, they will come for you.”_

_“I know,” she whispers again. “But until then, we need to repair this galaxy as much as we can.”_

_“Feferi – you can’t be serious!”_

_“I am very serious,” Feferi murmurs._

_“This is your life we’re talking about!”_

_“I also can’t waste precious resources hunting L.E. while the entire galaxy is still suffering from two wars!” Feferi snaps._

_You recoil at the intensity of her words. You’ve never been the target of Feferi’s anger before. But this is Empress Feferi now, the one with the burden of millions of lives on her shoulders. Feferi has always had the lives of many on her shoulders but now it’s not just contained to a single race._

_“Sorry,” she mumbles, cheeks flushing. “I need you to understand, Karkat.”_

_“I do,” you tell her. “I just don’t like it.”_

_“I know, but I need you to promise me you won’t tell anyone. Not even Kanaya,” Feferi commands, putting on her Empress voice._

_“I swear on your dead lusus that I won’t tell a living soul about this,” you promise._

_You hate that you’re promising this. It feels like you're signing Feferi’s death warrant. She’s right though, the Empire needs to recover and gain more faith in her before going on a wild chase through space for L.E.. Whoever that is._

_“See, if I would’ve told Eridan he would have been storming out of here to kill L.E. himself,” Feferi giggles._

_“I see your point,” you concede._

_“That’s not the only reason I asked you to come here,” Feferi says and she rises gracefully._

_She offers you a hand to help you up and you take it. You rise nowhere near as gracefully as she does. C’mon on Vantas, she lived underwater for most of her life! You should at least be able to stand on dry land better than her._

_“I need to put together an advisory council,” Feferi begins. “I need it to be made of trolls who I trust but aren’t afraid to question me. I’ve chosen some of the older high blood trolls, but I’m afraid they’re still set in their ways when it comes to the hemospectrum. I need someone that the lower castes' respect, someone who inspires them.”_

_“No,” you say curtly. “I told you I’m done with the politics. I’ll help organize the Empire, but I’m leaving as soon as my help is no longer needed.”_

_“But you’ll always be needed,” Feferi says softly and she puts a hand on your shoulder. “I know you hate the politics, KK, but I need you. The Empire_ depends _on you being involved.”_

_You sigh heavily. You knew this discussion was coming. Kanaya had told you earlier that Feferi had approached her with a similar request. Of course Kanaya took it, she had a much larger duty to the troll race and is perfect to sit on Feferi’s council. Unfortunately, you are just a mutant blood who had spouted words of nonsense and now people look at you like you are worth something._

_You’re just Karkat Vantas, a mutant who managed to befriend an Empress._

_“Please, Karkat,” Feferi begs. “Just for a few sweeps, then you can go off and do what you want. Run off to some planet on the edge of wild space and live the rest of your days scorning the Empire. But for now, take your place in the Empire.”_

_You mull it over in your mind. Feferi is offering you an out when being a councilmember outgrows you. Things could be worse, you suppose. Without her, you’d be dead._

_“Alright,” you agree. “For a few sweeps.”_

_Feferi gives you a smile so bright that it reminds you of the Alternian sun, but much more forgiving._

_“Thank you,” she says. “I won’t forget what you’ve done for me.”_

_‘When you’re dead’ goes unspoken because Feferi will outlive you all by thousands of sweeps. Best not dwell on that. You’ll enjoy your free life for now._

* * *

  **PRESENT DAY**

* * *

You wake early in the morning to leave the inn. That way, no one will be able to stop you nor will you feel the guilt of abandoning your friends.

You haven’t spoken to anyone since the broadcast, remaining holed up in your room and making plans to leave Skaia. There has to be a transport into the Empire from Skaia. Someone must be willing to take you to the Empire – even if you have to pay heavily.

Slipping out in the early morning is easy. As usual no one is awake and you just have to take extra care coming down the stairs. Long ago, you remember Dave realizing you were exiting the inn from his bedroom purely from the creaking of the stairs.

You dress in the grey robes you arrived in and pack the ones Jade gave you for the Freedom Festival. That’s all you want to bring with you to the Empire – even if you have to sell the fine fabric to pay for passage. On top of that, you wear the thick cloak Jane disguised you in when she first saw you. When returning to the Empire, you’ll have to be discrete.

The streets of Skaia are slowly waking as you make your way to the port. Carapacians and humans alike are quietly making their way to early morning jobs or going home after a late night. Same as when you arrived, no one pays attention to you. With the hood pulled up to cover your horns and face, you could pass for a human.

The port itself is bustling; people are working on their ships and buying passage Earth. You head towards the counter where you hope you can find a way to get to the Empire. A large human stands behind the counter, bored with his job.

“Are there any ships heading into Empire space today?” you ask.

The man narrows his eyes and looks you over. You brace yourself for anti-troll slander.

“Looking to go home friend?” he asks and it’s a far cry from what you were expecting.

You nod.

“There’s one,” he explains. “But it’s got a specific job and destination – you’ll have to talk to the captain directly. She’s not one to take on extra baggage lightly.”

“Where can I find her?” you ask.

The man jerks his thumb to the opposite end of the port.

“She’s the captain of the _Oblivion_ ,” he says. “Be prepared to pay a hefty fee.”

“Thank you,” you reply, nodding at the man.

You turn around, planning on heading towards the _Oblivion._ Instead, you see Dirk sauntering into the port. You freeze in place. Did he see you? He’s probably just here to work on the _Rogue_ , you rationalize. However, Dirk starts looking around and his orange eyes quickly zero in on you. He scowls deeply and marches over to you.

You’re frozen in the spot. This is it. Dirk’s here to murder you for hurting Dave. Too bad you couldn’t escape Skaia before this happened.

When Dirk reaches you, he grabs your arm and drags you over to where the _Rogue_ is landed. It’s a private hangar, giving Dirk the perfect opportunity to beat the shit out of you. Not that many people would mind seeing a troll getting beaten up. Maybe the man at the information booth would care a little.

Dirk releases your arm and shoves you backwards. You hit the _Rogue_ with a thud.

“Where the fuck do you think you’re going?” Dirk demands and he gets up into your space, eyes searching yours. “I thought we were your friends! But I’m finding out you’re deciding to run off at the first sign of trouble?”

“My Empire needs me,” you stress and you’re almost begging Dirk to let you go. “My friends there need me or they’ll be killed. I can’t just stay here and wait for the new Empire to send its assassins after me!”

“What are you going to do? Storm the palace yourself and hope for the best? You’re one goddamn troll, Vantas. You’ll be slaughtered before you even land,” Dirk hisses, jabbing his finger into your chest.

“What the hell am I supposed to do then?” you retort angrily, nostrils flaring. “I certainly can’t just sit here on Skaia pretending everything’s okay.”

“You can ask your friends for help!” Dirk snaps at you. “Maybe Dave’s deliberate obtuseness has been rubbing off on you, but we care about you. If you need help, we’ll give it to you.”

“I can’t ask you to die for me – for the Empire that you all hate!”

“The Empire that you represent it better than the future looming over us at the moment,” Dirk says, voice dropping. “If we don’t help you, what’s going to happen to Skaia? The Empire will try to overtake the humans again and this planet will be caught in the crossfire. Again.”

You remember all the compassion during the Freedom Festival. All the love the Skaians had for one another. Letting the conspirators win, all of that would be lost. The people of Skaia have been forced to give too much for their peace. You will not let that be taken from them.

“Alright,” you reply firmly. “I’ll stay.”

“Good,” Dirk says. “Now come with me, Jane and I have something to tell you.”

Dirk grabs your arm again, but much more gently than before. He doesn’t let go as he escorts you back to the inn. Maybe he’s afraid you’ll change your mind and flee.

“You wouldn’t stand a chance with the captain of the _Oblivion_ ,” Dirk says once you arrive at the side house. “She eats people like you for breakfast.”

“I’m not people,” you remind him.

Dirk opens the door to the side house and shoves you through.

“You get my point.”

Jane is leaning against the kitchen table. Her face is extremely serious. It’s very early in the morning and the others are not yet awake. The side house is still completely quite

“Hello Karkat,” she greets tightly and there’s pain in her eyes.

She’s worried for the future of Skaia.

“Good morning, Jane,” you respond.

“Take a seat,” Jane says and sweeps around the table to sit in her usual spot.

Dirk moves to stand behind her. You nervously take the seat across from her.

“The conspirators won’t win,” she promises you. “But we need to work together. You have knowledge that we need and I have knowledge that you need.”

“How long have you known about all this?”

“Jake’s been keeping Dirk and I informed,” Jane tells you. “There isn’t a lot we don’t know about the situation at the moment.”

“He can’t be safe in the Empire,” you say.

“No he isn’t, but he’s not in the Empire. This entire time he’s been collecting information on the situation,” Dirk explains.

“He’ll be back here this afternoon,” Jane adds. “With all the information we need on who we’re dealing with. He’s also bringing Kanaya Maryam with him.”

Your eyes widen. Kanaya is coming here? In a few hours your moirail will be with you again!

“What do want from Kanaya and I?” you ask.

“We’re going to need to retake the palace,” Jane says. “And the two of you have an intimate knowledge of its layout.”

“Okay,” you reply numbly. “What do you know?”

“Along with the information Jake is bringing, which is currently unknown, I know who is behind this whole plot. Jake and I managed to piece together who it is from intercepted transmissions,” Jane says.

“Who is it?”

Who is L.E.?

“His name is Lord English. He’s a cherub from wild space, some eons old. When I first came across his name I was still captain of the _Rogue._  I didn’t think much of him at the time. He’s a kingpin for some crime ring, but apparently he’s been pulling the strings of the troll Empire for centuries.”

“I know,” you reply hollowly. “Feferi figured it out sometime ago, when she first became Empress.”

“And she didn’t do anything?” Dirk asks, raising an eyebrow.

“We had bigger issues to deal with, like you know stabilizing the Empire,” you tell him harshly.

Dirk falls quiet, eyebrows knitting together in frustration and worry. He seems openly annoyed about this information but Jane places a hand on his arm. His face smoothes as he slips on his mask of neutrality again.

“What do we do now?” you ask, deferring to Jane’s judgment.

“We wait until Jake arrives and then we plan our assault on Lord English,” Jane says.

You nod.

“Thank you,” you tell her. “For everything.”

“Failure is not an option,” she reminds you. “If we fail, Skaia pays the price.”

“The entire galaxy will pay the price,” you murmur.

* * *

 

Several hours later, you find yourself waiting with Dirk for Jake to arrive. After your talk with Jane in the morning, you retreated to your room. Mostly to sit by the comm unit to see if any other broadcasts came through – none did – but also to avoid running into Dave. Dirk hasn’t said a word about Dave to you at this point but there isn’t a doubt in your mind he doesn’t know what happened between the two of you. You don’t really know how Rose, John, and Roxy feel about your lies yet either.

Jake’s tiny pod lands down beside the _Rogue_ , nestling neatly between it and the hangar wall. It’s a newer model than the _Rogue_ , built of nicer parts. It lacks the personality that the _Rogue_ has, however. Even though you’ve never flown in the _Rogue_ , you know that it’s 100% the superior ship.

The door hisses open and Jake steps out, decked out in non-Empire clothes. He probably changed out of them somewhere along the way. Dirk’s breath hitches briefly when he sees Jake. It’s worrisome having people you care about in the Empire, knowing its state at this point in time.

Kanaya follows after him. Her skin flickers and turns white, illuminating the dark hangar. It’s a familiar and warm light. She’s dressed in older clothes, probably ditched her robes early on like you did. Though you are wearing yours, still stained in Eridan's blood, today. Jake offers her a hand, always the gentleman, and Kanaya obligingly takes it. You know she can take care of herself, but she does admire manners and chivalry to some degree.

Her jade eyes immediately land on you and she gives you a smile. It takes all your self-control to not go running towards her. You don’t want to appear weak in front of Dirk. She looks healthy and unharmed. That’s all you could’ve asked for. Hopefully she has appraised you for the same results.

Kanaya has no such restraint and dashes over to you, pulling you into a tight hug. There is no hesitation as you reciprocate.

“Karkat,” she breathes, pressing her face into your hair.

Kanaya is tall and slim, but formidable and imposing. With her long, sharp horns and prominent fangs, common to rainbow drinkers, she makes a fearsome sight. However, she has all the grace and elegance her jade blood has gifted her. Even dressed in rags, she is an ethereal sight. No human would dare look badly at you with Kanaya at your side.

“I am glad to see you safe, I can breath easier now,” she tells you, releasing you from the hug but leaving her hands on your shoulders.

“I’m glad you’re here,” you admit freely.

“I sense that something is troubling you,” she states, narrowing her eyes.

“Aside from the state of the Empire?”

She inclines her head ever so slightly. You glance over at Dirk who’s watching the exchange with a frustratingly blank face.

“I’ll tell you later,” you say quietly and turn to face Dirk. “Jane and the others are waiting for us.”

“Oh!” Jake says and he yanks a data pad from his satchel. “Here’s what you need.”

“You’re not staying?” Dirk asks, shock evident in his voice.

“Jane asked me to do one more thing before I come back. Just a quick trip into wild space, I’ll be back lickity split,” Jake says, giving Dirk a soft grin. “Just to gather more information on our friend, Lord English.”

Dirk nods jerkily and reaches over to grip Jake’s hand. The show of affection is over as quickly as it begins.

“Be safe,” Dirk offers quietly.

“Aren’t I always?” Jake teases and he winks before heading back to his pod. “Don’t do anything too adventurous until I get back. You do know how much I love a good scrum.”

“Of course,” Dirk replies and there’s a slight smile on his face.

Dirk turns back to you and the blank face slides into place. Jake climbs into the pod and he takes off in a blink of an eye. Dirk waits until it's completely out of view before initiating the walk back to the inn. As always, Dirk takes the lead, but keeps his pace to match yours and Kanaya’s.

Unlike when you arrived, the Skaians look at Kanaya. Maybe it’s because she’s literally glowing and she sticks out like a sore thumb. No rags could hide the elegance of Kanaya Maryam.

“Maybe you should turn off your rainbow drinker-ness,” you suggest to Kanaya. “We’re trying to be incognito here.”

“It’s dark and I would like to be able to provide my own light,” Kanaya counters softly. “As well, I know the light comforts you.”

You feel your cheeks flush. Kanaya has always had that effect on you. After being among humans, you realize that your relationship is similar to the way the older humans would treat the younger humans. Like a protective older sibling, you suppose.

“I like it here,” Kanaya comments. “It’s quite homey. It’s where I imagined you would end up Karkat. After you left us.”

“I haven’t thought about leaving the Empire since the first half a sweep after the rebellion,” you reminder her. “You know that.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” Kanaya says, smiling down at you.

You arrive at the square and Kanaya let’s out a gentle gasp. She reaches out and delicately cups one of the pink leaves of the Last Tree. Dirk doesn’t wait for the two of you, immediately heading into the side house.

“Like in Terezi’s forest back on Alternia,” she murmurs quietly, voice filled with awe. “I had forgotten how beautiful plants could be.”

“Come see the inn,” you say and force Kanaya away so she can look at Dave’s mural. “One of the humans, Dave, painted it.”

“You are fond of him,” Kanaya says almost immediately.

“How do you do that?” you grumble, annoyed at how easily she can read you.

She laughs lightly and it’s just a pleasant noise to your ears. You could almost forget that state of emergency you’re in. Kanaya’s warmth is reassuring for you, just as you know your own presence is for her.

“I know you,” she replies. “But we can spend time like this later, we have much graver topics to discuss.”

Right. You lead Kanaya into the side house. The seven humans are all standing around the table. Their looks are all serious and unanimously turn to you when you and Kanaya enter. Dave immediately skips over you to look at Kanaya.

“This is Kanaya, my moirail,” you introduce with a sense of pride because Kanaya Maryam is _your_ moirail.

“I thought you didn’t do quadrants?” Dirk asks curiously and there’s no heat behind his voice but he’s taking the question from Dave’s angry mind.

“Karkat doesn’t do quadrants. I do,” Kanaya replies serenely but there’s a hard edge to her voice.

She has always been protective of you, even when you were young.

You dare to look at Dave. He’s wearing his shades so it’s impossible to read him.

Kanaya’s hand lands on the small of your back and she gently guides you towards the table. You belatedly notice at some point she stopped glowing, which is probably for the best.

Jake’s data pad sits slight off of the centre of the table. Jane takes it into her hands and brings it to life, the light reflecting off her glasses.

“Alright,” Jane begins. “Let’s take a look at what we have here.”

She takes a few moments to skim through the information before handing it to Roxy. Roxy is the captain of the _Rogue_ , so she should know what’s going on.

“Here’s what we know,” Jane says, pressing her hands against the tabletop. “Lord English is the leader of a criminal gang based in wild space known as the Felt. The Felt is currently at the palace, holding it and clearing it of any supporters of Feferi’s Empire. Jake’s intel says that Lord English is not yet at the palace as he is finishing up a few things in his base of operation – an unknown location in wild space.

“He’ll be arriving at the palace in about a week’s time. At which point, the prisoners, Karkat and Kanaya’s friends, will be publically executed to completely subjugate the population. Lord English will then be assuming full control of the Empire and it can be assumed war will follow soon afterwards. We need to stop that from happening. Roxy, you’re the Captain of the _Rogue_ , what’s the game plan?”

“You’re not coming with us?” John cuts in, voice small like he’s a tiny child.

“Someone needs to stay on Skaia,” Jane explains quietly. “If everything goes south, I need to be here to evacuate everyone. But it won’t, so don’t worry John. You’ve run missions without me before. Roxy is a good captain.”

“Thanks Janey,” Roxy says, giving her a small smile. “It’s a good thing we’ve got one of the sneakiest ships in the galaxy because we need to slip into the palace undetected. From there a team will enter. We’re going to need help with the Felt in the palace. Luckily they’re keeping a group of former rebels in lock up. All we need to do is free them and there tear shit up for us. So we’ll send in a small team – lead by Karkat and Kanaya since they know the palace the best - to do so.”

“I’ll do it,” Dave says, lifting his hand slightly. “I’m the best fighter, after Dirk but he’ll need to be on the _Rogue_. The stealth system is still experimental and he’ll need to be there to keep it all in check.”

You refuse to look at Dave.

“Good,” Roxy replies. “The _Rogue_ will then return to space and lay low, waiting for Lord English’s ship to arrive. We’ll take it out before he even gets a chance to land. We’ll then return and help secure the Palace.”

“Our friends in the palace may not be in a shape to fight,” Kanaya cuts in. “They have been in captivity for an undetermined amount of time with an unknown level of care. We cannot rely on their help.”

“There isn’t anyone else I can spare from the crew,” Roxy mutters. “Jade needs to be piloting, John and Dirk need to be keeping the _Rogue’_ s systems in check and I’m not about to send Rosie into battle.”

“I object,” Rose cuts in and Roxy sighs sadly. “I am more than capable in a fight, Roxy. I am also not essential to keeping the _Rogue_ running.”

“Rosie, you know I don’t like putting you in danger!” Roxy exclaims.

“I will be in as much danger upon the _Rogue_ if Lord English’s ship decides to fight back,” Rose argues. “I am not at all useful when it comes to operating the _Rogue._ My skills would be much better use on the ground team.”

“I think you look like a very capable fighter,” Kanaya appraises.

Rose gives her coy smile. Roxy sighs again.

“Fine, Dave and Rose you’ll join Karkat and Kanaya on the ground team. The rest of us will be running the _Rogue._ Jade will be keeping our asses out of fire while John and I blast Lord English’s ship to oblivion from the turrets.”

“That’s still only four people on the ground team to take on the entirety of the Felt,” Dirk points on. “I don’t like those odds at all.”

“It’s not like we have the Midnight Crew to back us up,” Roxy snaps back. “We’ll have to make do and the prisoners will need to help out.”

You perk up at the mention of the Felt’s rival gang, the Midnight Crew.

“I might be able to help you there,” you interrupt.

“Bullshit. The Midnight Crew has been underground for years,” Roxy says.

“Well Spades Slick happens to owe me a favour and I know just where he hangs out,” you reply. “Back in the Rebellion, we worked together and somehow it ended in him owing me a favour. He’s going under the name Jack Noir on the former _Furthest Ring_ station.”

“That’s great, Karkat!” Jade exclaims. “Four additional members to add to the ground team will definitely balance the fight more.”

Roxy mulls it over and looks at Dave.

“Do we have time to make a detour to the _Furthest Ring_ and then make it to the palace?” she asks him.

Dave leans over and taps his fingers on the tabletop as he thinks it through.

Time, you remember. It’s all about time.

“Yeah,” he says finally, looking up at Roxy. “We can make it to that piece of shit station and to Alternia in a week. We’ll need to leave tomorrow morning though.”

“You need to wait for Jake,” Jane asserts. “He’s going to have very important information when he returns.”

“We don’t have a lot of time to waste. Jakey better be flying that pod of his at top speeds,” Roxy mutters.

“Will Jake be coming with us?” John asks curiously, excitement seeping into his voice.

“No,” Jane replies. “He will be meeting us at the palace when this all goes down, taking his own pod to get there. Since the pod has no militaristic capabilities, he'll be part of the ground team. Jake’ll be infiltrating the palace on his own to take down the communication systems. This will be key in making sure that the Felt do not let Lord English know what's going on. From there he will join the ground team in securing the palace. I’ve already explained to him the majority of his role.”

“I hate when you go behind my back, Janey,” Roxy pouts, but there is an edge to her voice.

“Neither Jake nor I are part of the _Rogue_ crew,” Jane reminds her.

Roxy scoffs quietly in frustration but squares her shoulders and becomes the captain once again.

“Alright so that’s the plan. Dirk, don’t let the _Rogue_ ’s stealth tech fail, John and I will gun down Lord English, Jade’s the pilot, and everyone else is on the ground team. We break for the _Furthest Ring_ early tomorrow morning. Dave figure out exactly what the timeline is like and we’ll wait for Jake as long as we have,” Roxy sums up. “Got it?”

Everyone nods.

“Good, now go get your gear ready. The _Rogue of Void_ is taking off again!”

All the humans, except for Jane, turn and head to their rooms on the second floor. You and Kanaya remain in the kitchen with Jane. Jane’s fingers play with the edge of the datapad.

“I suppose I should get a room ready for you,” Jane says absently.

“It’s fine,” you reply. “The room next to mine is unoccupied.”

“Thank you for your hospitality,” Kanaya says. “I’m also grateful that you have taken care of Karkat in my absence. I can tell he admires you a great deal.”

“Kanaya!” you protest but she merely smiles at you.

“Karkat has been very helpful around the inn,” Jane tells her. “Even if he has a bit of an attitude.”

“I suppose he can be stubborn,” Kanaya replies fondly.

“It’s going to be a long week, you should get some sleep,” Jane urges. “And you two probably want to catch up before everything… happens.”

Kanaya reaches out and places a hand on Jane’s shoulder.

“Jane, everything will work out. Skaia will remain free,” Kanaya promises. 

“Thank you,” Jane murmurs softly. “I’d feel better if I could come with you, but my duty remains here with Skaia.”

“As ours with the Empire,” Kanaya agrees and turns to you.

Kanaya moves off to the side and you take the moment to talk to Jane.

“Are the others mad at me like Dave is?” you question quietly but know Kanaya’s keen ears will hear this conversation regardless. “Rose, Roxy, and John I mean.”

“No,” Jane answers. “They understand your motives. John was, well, he was quite confused at first but I explained it to him. Rose put two and two together and Roxy always knew you were keeping a secret."

“Thanks,” you reply.

So you only screwed up your relationship with Dave.

“Dave will come around,” Jane assures you. “He’s hurt now, but he still cares for you. He did volunteer to go with you.”

“I know. Goodnight, Jane.”

“Goodnight, Karkat.”

You and Kanaya leave Jane alone in the kitchen, lost in her own worries of the upcoming mission. Kanaya follows you through the inn and into your room. She seats herself on your bed and takes in the tiny room.

“It’s quaint,” she comments. “And surprisingly neat.”

“I don’t have many belongings to toss around,” you reply haughtily.

She smiles at you as you take a seat beside her on the bed.

“You coming to Skaia was no accident,” Kanaya tells you. “Feferi planned for you to come here the whole time. I think she wanted you to come here, if you left the Empire. It’s a good home. She and Jane have had an understanding for a long time, in case this should happen.”

“Yeah it is,” you agree quietly. “But I think I’ve screwed up any chance of a home here up.”

“The Dave human will forgive you,” Kanaya says to comfort you. “Tell me about him.”

“I don’t know where to begin,” you admit. “At first, I hated him and I think he hated me, but more of what I represented. He frustrated me so much, blatantly disrespecting the Empire and Feferi without knowing a goddamn thing about it! But then I got to know him and learned that he likes creating star maps and how he’s actually a really big dork. We’ve been working on this thing called Can Town, which is pretty self explanatory, with a Carapacian named the Mayor.

“He’s always breaking shit and so his brother, Dirk, won’t let him use full swords to fight with. And he’s fast! We fought a few times and he moves so quickly, you wouldn’t even believe it. He still frustrates me even to this day, he can be so enigmatic sometimes but blunt at this same time. But sometimes he just babbles and just talks circles around the topic!"

“I’m going to stop you there,” Kanaya says, patting your knee. “I have heard enough.”

You flush slightly.

“He sounds like a good match for you,” she says slowly. “But I will need speak with him on my own terms before I can truly decide.”

“Please don’t bring your chainsaw,” you beg.

“I do not know what you are talking about, all I have is my tube of lipstick,” Kanaya teases and pulls aforementioned lipstick from her pocket.

“Kanaya,” you sigh.

“I am kidding. I would not scare your future,” she pauses, clearing considering the word matesprit, “you future Dave. Not too badly anyway.”

You let out a small laugh at that. The two of you fall into a comfortable silence. It’s just nice being around Kanaya again.

“Gamzee betrayed us,” you finally say.

“He did,” Kanaya responds, voice deceptively calm but you can see the anger in her eyes.

“I should have let you kill him when you had the chance,” you confess.

“He was your moirail and your best friend, I understand why you protected him. Even if he tried to kill us all,” Kanaya replies easily. “But I will save my strength for him. The clown is mine.”

“You’ll need to beat me to it. He broke Terezi’s heart, in a totally non-black romance way,” you grumble and then your voice drops even lower. "And he broke my heart too."

“Of course,” Kanaya says. “May the best troll win. Happy clown hunting to us both.”

“Happy clown hunting,” you agree and change topics. “Where were you Kanaya? How was your time in hiding?”

“I was still in the Empire, on a small colony where mostly trolls lived. I worked as a seamstress and kept my head low. It was a peaceful existence, but I missed everyone, even Eridan.”

“Me too,” you laugh. “He didn’t look good on the broadcast.”

“No,” Kanaya says and she eyes the bloodstains on your robe meaningfully.

“I tried to stay,” you explain. “Eridan was injured and I wasn’t about to let him go back into the fray without some sort of back up.”

“Fortunately, Eridan is a very resilient troll. Physically and emotionally, which can sometimes be very unfortunate for all of us,” Kanaya reminds you. “He will make it out of this unscathed. Or the galaxy will know Feferi’s fury.”

“Do you think she’s safe?” you ask.

“Above all else, Feferi is a survivor.”

“We shouldn’t have to be just survivors anymore. I want to live and not have to worry about my life every day.”

“You speak as if you knew this assassination attempt was coming,” Kanaya says, her eyes narrowing.

“I sort of did,” you confess. “Feferi did too. She discovered that someone else had been pulling the strings during the Condesce’s reign. She swore me to secrecy, she was afraid the others would immediately –“

Kanaya hisses angrily and you realize why Feferi came to you. You reach over and lightly pap Kanaya’s face. It has the desired effect, calming Kanaya immediately.

“That must have been a heavy burden for you to carry,” Kanaya murmurs. “I am sorry you had to carry it alone. Even if it was for obvious reasons.”

“I just wish it didn’t have to be like this.”

“We must fight for what we love,” Kanaya reminds you. “We all knew that taking on the Empire would be a long journey. In the sweeps that we live, we may not know peace or a carefree life. At least, at the end of it all, we’ll know that we had a hand in creating a better future for those who come after us.”

You nod and lean onto Kanaya’s shoulder. Her cheek presses to the top of your head. You’ve always been glad for your short horns for this exact reason.

“I wanted to be K – that’s what they called me on Skaia. He had no duties to the Empire and could live the life I always wanted to have.”

Kanaya hums and the vibration sends a shiver down your spine.

“I couldn’t live that life though. I miss the Empire.”

“I do too,” she replies. “But we will not give it up without a fight.”

You don’t nod or say a word, but know that Kanaya knows you agree.

For a long while, the two of you remain close. Time ticks by and you feel your eyes growing heavy. Kanaya, too, is getting quite tired – probably from her traveling. She silently pulls herself from you and heads to her own room. The loss of her immediate presence doesn’t hurt at all, just knowing that Kanaya is on the same planet as you is enough.

* * *

 

You don’t sleep much and end up waiting for the others in the kitchen of the side house. This might very well be your last morning here – the last morning of enjoying the sun filter through the kitchen windows and the peace of Skaia. Although you’re tempted to wake Kanaya, you know she needs rest. Instead you sit at the table and run through what you’re actually going to fucking say to Spades Slick when you see him. Just because he owes you a favour doesn’t mean he’s going to make it easy to obtain.

When the sun begins to peak through the windows, Dave stumbles through the front door of the side house. You jump with surprise. He’s not wearing his glasses and there are dark bags underneath his eyes.

“Fuck!” you curse. “Where the fuck were you?”

“Figuring the exact time it’ll take to go on your detour,” Dave replies dismissively.

Great, he’s still pissed off at you.

“You haven’t slept at all, have you?” you reply, worry for Dave gnawing at your mind.

He probably isn’t wearing his glasses because it hurts too much to look at that hologram graph of his with them on.

“You’re not looking so hot yourself,” he answers snappishly. “I’ll get some sleep on the journey to the _Furthest Ring_ , it’s not like I have to be navigating the whole time.”

You scrutinize Dave carefully, looking for any signs of fear or worry. He just looks exhausted.

“I’m not going to drop dead,” Dave hisses and slips his shades back on.

You’re about to respond and tell him that he’s important to the mission – important to you – and pushing himself to extremes won’t help anyone, but Jane and Roxy come ambling into the kitchen. The two of them are in the midst of a hushed conversation, discussing the stability of the _Rogue_ ’s stealth technology. Big technical words are being thrown around and it makes your head hurt trying to decipher them. But it also reminds you of Sollux and Equius' workshop back at the Empire, which you have been kicked out of for yelling at them when their talk is too complex. It's a good comparison and a nice memory.

“It’ll hold, Roxy. Trust that me and Dirk put something sturdy together,” Jane stresses, running her hands through her hair. “Oh – Dave and Karkat you’re awake! I’ll put something on for breakfast!”

“I’m not hungry,” the two of you say in unison.

“Wow so there’s no tension in this room at all,” Roxy comments sarcastically and flops down at the table. “And Davey you should eat, a good breakfast is important for space journeys. You too, Karkat.”

Dave scowls and takes the seat next to Roxy at the table. You sigh heavily, so he’s not going to make this easy for you. Jane is fussing at the stove, beginning to make a hot breakfast

“So Spades Slick,” Roxy comments. “Can you guarantee we’re not going to get stabbed for are troubles?”

“No,” you reply flatly. “But he does stab as a sign of many things, positive and negative.”

“He’s been underground for years, how did you keep track of him? I didn’t even know where he was,” Jane asks.

“During the rebellion, I ran into some trouble while on a covert mission. He bailed me out for some reason and we worked together,” you explain, shrugging. “Left me with his calling card before vanishing completely. I don’t know what goes on in his mind.”

Roxy narrows her eyes at you and she’s not buying your story completely.

It’s mostly the truth. You and Jack bonded over your mutually similar blood colours while you were imprisoned in a jail cell. You had been caught on some station trying to hack their systems. When the Midnight Crew broke Jack out, he brought you with him - after almost leaving you behind first. You helped him take down the station, a crucial piece in the Condesce’s (and as you now know, the Felt’s) empire. When he left, he told you where he’d be, if you needed his help again. It’s an unnecessarily complicated story that you like to keep to yourself.

However, Roxy doesn’t push any further and turns to Dave instead.

“We good on time?” she asks.

Dave inclines his head.

“As long as Karkat,” he speaks your name with derision, “doesn’t take too much time with his stabby friend.”

“I won’t,” you hiss, glaring at Dave.

If he’s going to be an ass, you’re going to be an ass right back. Roxy shares a glance with Jane at the stove. It looks like one of them might say something. Neither of them gets the chance as Dirk arrives in the kitchen.

“Jake just landed,” he announces. “We’re clear on that front.”

“I had faith Jakey would pull through,” Roxy says.

“He’s staying in the hangar until we arrive, but I promised him I’d bring him some breakfast,” Dirk says mostly to Jane.

It’s odd. Even though Roxy is the captain, Dirk seems to relay most of his information regarding Jake to Jane. In all other aspects, Dirk respects Roxy as the captain. Maybe it’s because, as Jane said, neither of them are part of the _Rogue_ crew? Either way, the information still seems as integral to Roxy as much as it is Jane.

“I should probably go get Kanaya,” you murmur, feeling out gunned now that Dirk is here to support Dave.

“Someone should get the other three up as well,” Jane hums from the stove. “Breakfast is almost ready and it’s almost time to go.”

“I’ll do it,” Dave volunteers and you roll your eyes.

Trying to one up you or something.

You head back to Kanaya’s room and she’s already awake when you knock on the door. She opens it immediately and gives you a small smile.

“Morning, Karkat,” she greets and steps out of the room. “Did you sleep well?”

“Enough,” you reply, avoiding the question.

“It is difficult to sleep without sopor,” Kanaya admits. “But you should still try to sleep as much as you can.”

“I can sleep when our friends are safe.”

Kanaya frowns at you, but you can see in your eyes she secretly agrees with your statement.

The two of you return to the kitchen to find all the humans gathered around the table. Breakfast is ready, but is seems that they were waiting for you. The two of you tuck yourself between Rose and John.

“Alright, dig in!” Jane says cheerfully but worry tinges her tone.

No one else attempts to even pretend to be happy. You all just solemnly eat breakfast. You don’t eat much, far too worried about your friends. Kanaya doesn’t bother you about it because she doesn’t seem to be eating much either.

Jane leaves the dishes and urges you all out the door. She comes with you, so you suppose it’s not quite time to say goodbye yet. As you leave the square, you do your best to memorize the inn, Dave’s mural, and the Last Tree. You’ll want to remember this if you don’t come back.

Soon you find yourself walking down the streets of Skaia before the sun has fully risen. It’s nestled between the ramshackle buildings of the quiet city, unaware that its future belongs in your hands.

No one speaks, despite the high emotions running through the group. Everyone knows what’s on the line if this all fails.

Jake is eagerly awaiting your arrival in the hangar. He’s bouncing on his heels, filled with energy that you’re lacking this morning. Jake always seems to have energy whenever you seem him. The hull to the _Rogue_ is already open in anticipation of your arrival.

“Captain on deck,” Jake teases, saluting when Roxy steps into the hangar.

“I’m glad you made it on time, Jake,” Roxy says and she presses a hand to his shoulder before stepping onto the walkway.

She inhales deeply and turns back to face the rest of you.

“This is it, everyone. The do it or die mission we’ve always played around with. I believe in you and I know I haven’t done much as your captain, but I hope you’ll believe in me too,” Roxy says. “I hope you’ll all follow me into the waiting arms of the Empire and the asshole Lord English, knowing that this could mean your death.”

“We believe in you, Roxy,” Dirk says and he steps up onto the walkway.

The other humans all follow and quickly climb the rope ladder. You turn to Jane.

“Thank you for everything, Jane,” you say.

“You’re welcome, Karkat. It’s been lovely having you around the inn. I have to admit, I’m probably going to miss your help,” she replies, giving you a broad grin.

She then pulls you into a hug. You’re shocked and your initial reaction is to pull away from it. However, you ease into it and reciprocate for the rest of the gesture.

“There’s someone you’ll want to see in the rec room,” Jane tells you as she pulls out of the hug.

“Who?”

“Goodbye, Karkat,” she replies and steps backwards. “Tell her I say hi, it’s been sometime since we actually spoke face to face.”

Kanaya places a hand on your shoulder and guides you onto the _Rogue_. Jake then closes the hull from the exterior. You hurry up the rope ladder, not waiting for Kanaya, and ignoring the humans as you run into the rec room.

Standing there in a beige cloak, emblazoned with the crest of life, is Feferi. She turns to face you and gives you a sad smile. This revelation causes you to freeze in the doorway. Kanaya rushes in after you, slamming into your back.

“Hello, Karkat. Hello, Kanaya,” she greets serenely but her gaze is troubled. “I wish we could’ve been reunited in happier circumstances.”

“What are you doing here?” Kanaya inquires as she steps out from behind you, managing to collect herself far faster. “How are you here? You were supposed to be taken far outside the Empire.”

“I have been in wild space with Jake,” Feferi replies. “We have both been gathering information on Lord English. I wasn’t about to sit by while someone tried to harm my people. I couldn’t stand by anymore and watch them suffer. Not for my mistakes. I swore you to secrecy, Karkat, and I have never regretted a decision more. My foolishness has harmed the Empire even more than I could’ve imagined.”

“Does Roxy know you’re here?” you finally blurt. “I’m not sure how she would react to a stowaway.”

Feferi giggles, her hand covering her mouth.

“She knows,” she replies, still laughing. “I’m going to be joining your party in the palace. Spades Slick will need some help telling who is loyal and who is not. I’ve been given the impression he’s the stab first, ask questions never kind of man.”

That’s when you notice Feferi’s trident glinting against the glass of the window. A deadly weapon that you never want to be on the wrong side of. Feferi wields it with absolute precision and grace. It also reminds you that Kanaya and Feferi both have their own weapons, while you have none. You’ll need to make a detour once you infiltrate the palace.

“I’m glad you are here and relieved to see that you're well,” Kanaya adds. “The three of us should have never gone into hiding – we belonged in the fight from the beginning.”

“If we were at the palace, there would be no hope for our people,” Feferi replies firmly. “But my plan was never to run, I’ve been spending the past few months preparing for this moment as best I could.”

“Good,” you say. “We fought for this Empire and we aren’t going to lose it so easily.”

Feferi smiles at you and turns to Kanaya.

“Kanaya, can you give Karkat and I some privacy?”

Kanaya inclines her head and strides out of the room. Feferi turns, her cloak sweeping out behind her as she steps towards the glass. You follow her. The window is only overlooking the hangar, as the _Rogue_ has yet to take off.

“When this is over,” Feferi begins, not looking at you, staring out the window, “you are free to leave the Empire. I know you never wanted to stay with us, but did because I asked you to. I am giving you my blessing to leave once this is all over.”

“No,” you say immediately.

Feferi gives you a surprised look, her lips forming a tiny ‘o.’ Your quick answer even surprised yourself. You think about Skaia, with breakfast in the side house and the warm glow of lanterns during the Freedom Festival. You think about Dave and Jane and Jade and the other humans. Then you remember how much you missed your friends, how even the warmth of Skaia couldn’t fill the spot they had in your heart.

“I belong with the Empire. My home is with you and the others,” you continue quietly. “My time on Skaia was a dream come true but I missed my friends too much.”

Feferi nods slowly.

“I want to bring the change to the Empire,” you tell her, conviction coming through. “I want to be a part of your legacy.”

“The offer will stand,” Feferi says. “At anytime.”

“I won’t.”

“Alright,” she says. “We should return to the main room. I asked for take off to be delayed until I could speak to you.”

You and Feferi return to the main room. Rose and Kanaya are seated at the central table speaking quietly. You can see the two of them getting along very well in the future. Roxy is leaning against the wall to the private rooms. Feferi nods at her and Roxy pushes off the wall, a grin on her face.

“It’s time!” she calls to Jade and turns to enter the cockpit. “Let’s save the galaxy!”

The _Rogue_ takes off smoothly, much smoother than you were expecting. It rises upwards gently and slowly, through the roof of the hangar.

“We’re clear,” Dave’s voice echoes from the cockpit.

The _Rogue_ shudders violently for a brief moment as the warp core roars to life. You stumble backwards, the only one to do so, when it shoots upwards. The ship rumbles only as it exits the atmosphere of Skaia. Once clear, everything settles and you can hear the soft buzz of the warp core.

“Setting course for the _Furthest Ring_. On your mark, Captain,” Dave says, almost mechanically.

“Punch it,” Roxy murmurs.

The _Rogue_ shoots into motion and you can see the telltale lines of warp speed through the windows of the cockpit.

“Arrival in 22 hours,” Dave announces and he enters a few commands into the nav console before standing.

Jade does the same on the pilot’s side, presumably the two of them locking it in to autopilot. They join Roxy and leave the cockpit for the main room.

“Why must you continually quote an ancient sci-fi movie that has been proven to be grossly inaccurate on so many levels?” Rose comments to Roxy.

“Christopher Pike is my captaincy idol,” Roxy retorts and throws herself into a chair.

Dave takes one look at Feferi before shaking his head and disappearing into his quarters. So you’re back to square one. Disdain of trolls and the Empire.

It’s going to be a long journey.

* * *

 

You manage to fall asleep on one of the lumpy couches, you thought sleeping in a bed was bad, in the rec room when you’re about three hours out of from the _Furthest Ring._ The timing isn't ideal and you’d rather be well rested to deal with Spades Slick, but you can’t exactly just take a nap. The schedule doesn’t allow it.

Feferi and Kanaya both got the spare bunks in Dirk and Roxy’s quarters. Roxy was pretty damn excited to be sharing with the Empress and no one could really talk her out of it, even though Feferi insisted on sleeping in the rec room with you. So did Kanaya for that matter, but you decided to play the martyr and argued that as many of you as possible should be sleeping in proper beds.

You’re jerked out of sleep as the _Rogue_ stops traveling at warp speed. Tired and cranky, you roll off the couch and stumble into the main room of the _Rogue_. The lights are dimmed for the night cycle, giving it a very eerie feel. It seems that everyone else managed to sleep through the stutter of the ship.

Except for Dave, who’s sitting at the pilot console in the cockpit. You lurch forward and join him in the cockpit.

“Did you sleep?” you ask and it out more as a growl.

“Nah, but I’m use to going long periods without sleep,” he replies, waving his hand at you dismissively.

He doesn’t tear his gaze away from the front, carefully piloting the _Rogue_ but gives you a quick look over from the corner of his eye.

“Take a seat, you look like you’re about to fall over,” he says and points to the navigator console. “Get space sickness?”

You flop down into Dave’s navigator chair. It’s quite comfortable and just seems very _Dave._ How a chair feels like a person, you can’t really explain.

“No, I just haven’t been sleeping,” you say pointedly.

Dave tosses you a lopsided smirk. He think you're lying as you've told him in the past you're a poor flyer. It isn't the case in this particular scenario though. 

“We’ll be docking at the _Furthest Ring_ in 24 minutes, you could take a nap,” he suggests.

“And let your ass fall asleep in the pilot’s seat?” you scoff.

Dave lets out a huff of laughter. He pulls up his shades and you see the massive bags under his eyes. He hasn’t been sleeping much and you wonder if you’re partly to blame for that. The two of you had become accustomed to sharing Dave’s bed back on Skaia and now that you’re not, you’re both struggling to sleep or avoiding it. That’s not really a coincidence.

“Why are piloting anyways?” you inquire and turn to look forward.

The _Furthest Ring_ looms off in the distance and is surrounded by its many broken parts. Once a grand station on the edge of the Empire, it was attacked by bandits and drifted into wild space. It settled in a dead planet's gravitational pull, as an artificial satellite. Now it’s home to all sorts of crime.

“I wanted to let Jade sleep,” Dave responds. “And I figure only a few of us need to actually go aboard the station. I’m totally not letting you have all the fun with Spades Slick, either.”

“So just you and me?”

“A smaller party is much less noticeable,” Dave replies, keeping his voice steady and face neutral. “I’ve cleared it with Roxy already. Our crew isn’t exactly the most subtle, so it’s best to lay low.”

“Good thinking,” you admit.

“Someone rational needs to keep your rude ass in check,” Dave replies and his tone is almost teasing.

“I saw you speaking with Feferi and Kanaya earlier,” you comment casually, jumping to a new topic.

“They’re cool,” Dave shrugs. “For a troll empress, Feferi is very grounded.”

“That’s what makes her such a good empress. Unlike other fuchsia bloods, she isn’t driven by violence and the urge for dominance.”

“I guess I was wrong about that then.”

“What do you mean?”

“I just thought because she was Empress, she was going to be a bad guy. I mean, the Empire can be pretty terrible, so why would its ruler be any different?”

“We’re trying to change things,” you assert.

Dave’s jaw tightens when you use ‘we.’

“I’m sorry for not telling you,” you mumble.

Dave takes a deep breath.

“I get it. You didn’t want me to treat you differently; you wanted to keep being K. Now that I know I’m treating you differently, but that’s probably because you lied to me.”

“You’re still mad then.”

“I’m mad because you didn’t trust me enough to share your secret. And don’t bullshit me and tell me that you did trust me. Well, maybe you did, but not enough.”

You bite your lip.

“It’s hard enough that you’re part of the Empire, even if it is changing. I was born to hate the Empire. But you straight up lied to me. Which isn’t cool, bro.”

“If I could go back, I’d tell you,” you reply.

“Leave time travel to the experts,” Dave says seriously.

“Time travel is impossible.”

“That’s what they want you to think.”

“Who’s they?”

“Elves, weasels, who the fuck knows man. They is they.”

You roll eyes. Dave is such a fucking dork sometimes.

After that, the two of you fall into silence as the _Rogue_ quietly approaches the _Furthest Ring._ Dave docks with ease, something you weren’t expecting. You didn’t know he had the ability to pilot so well.

“Let’s go,” Dave murmurs, standing from the chair. “I’ve prepared some gear for us in the hull.”

You nod and rise from your seat. Despite his exhaustion, Dave’s motions are still clear and concise. You’re impressed since you have some sleep under your belt and you’re barely able to stand.

Dave slips down the rope ladder with ease and after a brief pause you follow him. In your exhausted state, the ladder is a much greater trial. Your foot catches on one of the rungs and you nearly go tumbling backwards. Fortunately, Dave is fast enough to catch you. He helps settle you on the ground.

“Thanks,” you grumble.

Dave doesn’t even give you a smart assed response. He moves over to the far left of the hull and starts putting on the gear he’s gathered. You wander over just in time to collect a heavy cloak he’s thrown at you.

“This isn’t a dingy old station,” you inform Dave even though you’ve never been to the _Furthest Ring_ before.

“It’s better to hide weapons,” Dave responds and he thrusts a rifle at you.

You glare at the offending object.

“I don’t use guns,” you tell him; guns were always more Eridan’s thing.

“Of course you don’t,” Dave sighs and he detaches his own sword from his side before handing it to you.

A little dumbstruck at the offer, it takes you a few seconds to respond. This causes Dave to react less than favourably.

“We don’t have any fucking sickles on hand and I’d rather you had something to protect yourself,” Dave snaps. “I can’t be watching over both of us.”

“Fuck you asshole, I didn’t think you were going to offer me your own fucking sword,” you snap and grab the sword.

Dave huffs and grabs another rifle, folding it up neatly and slipping its strap over his chest. He arranges the cloak so the weapon is completely unseen. You do the same with the sword, strapping it to your back before throwing the thick cloak over your own shoulders.

“Ready?” Dave asks.

You nod. He hits a button and the hull door hisses open. The air of the _Furthest Ring_ is warm and stagnant unlike the cool air of the _Rogue_. Dave inhales sharply at the change and it makes your own eyes water from the sudden dryness.

The two of you step out into the poorly lit hangar, cloaks sweeping behind you. Dave turns around and shuts the hull before looking at you. You think he might have a plan as to how you're going to find Spades Slick. The _Furthest Ring_ is a big station and Spades Slick could be anywhere.

“We should be careful about asking around for Jack Noir,” he says quietly. “Might set off some alarm bells."

"No shit," you tell him but will no venom. 

Dave gives you a little grin in return.

The two of you walk out of the hangar, completely in sync. Dave walks with a certain swagger, no longer the Dave of Skaia but the Navigator of the _Rogue of Void_. He’s got an image to maintain.

The hangar leads into a long hallway with flickering blue lights lining the edges of the ceiling. Muffled music is coming from your right. A few aliens of species you don’t recognize loiter in the hallway, swathed in all black. They barely even glance up as the two of you enter the hallway.

“This way,” Dave murmurs and turns to the left.

He hurries down the hallway and the music gets fainter as you follow him. You know that Spades Slick was never one for heavy club music, more smooth piano music. Soon the only sound is Dave’s boots hitting the metal floor.

“The casino district is this way,” Dave says, deciding to let you in on his thought process. “Thought we should start there.”

“Good idea,” you reply. "You had a plan after all."

Dave doesn’t respond and the two of you finish the walk down the hallway in silence. When you arrive at the end of it, the lighting gets better. It's no longer flickering and has gone from blue to bright white. The door is heavy metal with “Warning: No Civilian Access Past This Point” written in fading yellow paint.

Dave shrugs and pulls it open.

The revealed room is smoky but much cooler than the hallway. Dave ushers you in and closes the door behind him. You sweep the large room, looking for Spades. It’s a large and densely packed room. The lighting has reverted back to being dim and poor. Trolls, humans, Carapacians, and other aliens are clustered around tables gambling.

“Shit, this is straight out of some 1950s Noir film,” Dave mutters, leaning in close to your ear.

You just nod even though you lack the proper understanding of human popular culture. Dave surprises you when he tugs off his hood and pulls off his shades. He probably can’t see in this particular lighting. After you go to tug off your own hood, Dave grabs your arm and pulls you off to the side. He gets close, all up in your personal space. It actually makes you kind of mad and you want to shove him away. Dave doesn’t just get to be mad at you and then push you around like this.

“So game plan,” he whispers right in your ear and all of that thought process flies out the emergency hatch. “Play it cool and no one will bother with us. But we also got to blend in. Gather as much information as you can.”

Dave presses his hand into yours and you feel him slipping something cool into your hand.

“I’ll find you in a half hour,” he murmurs and he pulls away.

You blink and Dave’s already disappeared into the smoky room. There isn’t a fucking clock anywhere around you. Looking down into your hand, you notice Dave has deposited some sort coins into your hands. You suppose it’s the currency used out here. Empire Currency is similar in shape but is pressed with the Empress’ symbol. The coins have what appear to be the symbols of the quadrants pressed onto them. Those probably have another meaning out here.

Dave could’ve at least explained what the coins meant before he abandoned you. Still pissed off at you, it seems. So, you slip the coins into your pocket and make your way over to what looks like the bar. The seating is mostly free so you slid in easily. You carefully watch the other patrons first, trying to figure out as much as you can about the currency before actually using it.

“You have a look that says you’ve never ventured too far from your hive,” the bartender assumes, leaning across the bar.

He’s a troll and you’re secretly glad. Even in wild space, trolls are a comfort.

“My friend dragged me out here,” you grumble and it comes across easily.

“The human with the red eyes,” the troll says. “I saw you two come in together.”

You nod.

“He should watch himself, Noir doesn’t take too kindly to his type here,” he murmurs.

“What type?” you ask curiously.

“Cocky, walking in like they own the place. Most humans are like that these days. Ever since the war ended,” he growls.

“Not a fan of the new Empire?” you question.

“If I was, do you think I would be out here serving drinks?” he says, grinning wolfishly.

A chill runs up your spin. This is a very dangerous troll.

“So this Noir – he owns the place?”

The bartender gestures upwards with his chin. You follow his gaze and even through the smoky haze, you can see a balcony overlooking the room. You can just barely make out the figures on the balcony. Four of them.

The Midnight Crew.

“It’s my turn to ask questions,” the bartender says, voice low.

You incline your head slowly. It wouldn’t hurt to return the courtesy.

“What’s Empire bait doing so far from his home?”

“I already told you, I came here with my friend,” you reply, slightly annoyed.

The bartender leans in closer and you can make out the indigo of his eyes. Shit. He just had to be a high blood.

“Don’t lie to me,” he snarls. “Low blood filth should know their place even outside of the Empire.”

You scowl at him.

“I think we’re done here,” you mutter.

You’re about to stand from your seat when the bartender grabs your shoulder, forcing you to stay put. Damn, indigo bloods can be strong. His claws even cut through the thick fabric of your cloak. He narrows his eyes at you before they widen slightly in realization. _Shit._ You haven’t worn anything to conceal your eye colour in quite awhile – the dark had been able to conceal it earlier it seems.

“You’re no low blood at all,” he growls and his grip tightens.

You hiss in pain.

“Let go of me!”

You try and yank your shoulder free.

“You’re the fucking mutant pariah who got all the low bloods riled up.”

You’re absolutely terrified. There’s no way you could fight a fucking indigo blood and win. All you have is Dave’s ridiculous sword strapped to your back. No way you could pull that out without causing some sort of scene.

“Hey man, fuck off,” Dave snaps and he’s right behind you, his own hand on your other shoulder.

His arm crosses your back and he stands at the shoulder the indigo blood is holding. Dave's other hand is wrapped tightly around the indigo blood's wrist. You know Dave has no chance of prying you free and the indigo blood knows it too. The other troll is toying with Dave by letting his hand remain where it is.

The troll’s brow furrows and he switches his glare to Dave.

“Mind your own business, human.”

“Nah,” Dave replies coolly. “I’m good. I think you should really consider letting go of my friend here or else we’re going to have a fucking problem.”

The troll smirks at Dave, who has no idea what he’s dealing with. A fucking indigo blood, it had to be a fucking indigo blood.

“You have a problem with me?” the trolls taunts. “In your dreams –“

The trolls words stop dead and he immediately releases you, recoiling behind the bar. You glance over at the balcony again, only three figures are visible. The biggest is now missing. A heavy hand drops on your shoulder where the troll’s once was. Dave stiffens as the other hand drops on his own shoulder.

“These are esteemed guests of Mr. Noir,” Hearts Boxcars booms. “Ya have a problem with them, ya have a problem with him! Got it?”

“Yes sir,” the troll mutters, bowing his head in submission.

You let out a sigh of relief, but it’s short lived as Hearts roughly drags the two of you out of the main room and through a side door. He releases you and shoves you forward. Dave recovers unbelievably quickly and catches you before you land face first into a large set of stairs. You shove Dave off of you and glare at Hearts.

“The boss will see ya now, Vantas,” Hearts says and he crosses his arms.

“Always a pleasure dealing with you,” you reply sarcastically and begin marching up the stairs. “Hurry up, Dave.”

Dave’s boots clump on the stairs behind you, the only indication that he actually listened to you. You don’t really want to look at Dave right now because you’re pretty sure you’ll punch him the face for abandoning you in the first place.

At the top of the stairs is another set of grand doors. You push them open and arrive on the balcony overlooking the casino. Diamonds Droogs is leaning against the wall, lazily smoking a cigar but his eyes immediately zero in on Dave, recognizing him as the actual threat. Clubs Deuce is dancing around nervously the entire balcony. Spades Slick himself is standing at the very apex of the balcony, hands wrapped around the railing.

“It’s been sometime, Vantas,” Spades rasps. “Was startin’ to think I could just live my life without seeing your sorry face again.”

You cross your arms and glare at Spades’ back.

“You owe me a favour and I intend to collect,” you retort.

Spades slowly turns to face you, his already narrow eyes becoming slits as he looks you over. He lifts his hand to dismiss Diamonds and Clubs. Clubs scrambles out of the room first and Diamonds gives Dave another once over before sliding out of the door as well.

“I sent my lackeys out, now yours,” Spades hisses, glaring at Dave.

You can hear Dave shift into a more predatory stance.

“He stays,” you reply, tossing your arm out in front of Dave somewhat protectively.

“Fine,” Spades growls and he turns back to face the casino.

You take a few steps forward, but give Spades a wide berth. No doubt he has a large amount of knives hidden away on his person.

“I gave you my information if you had somethin’ worth my time,” Spades mutters angrily.

“It involves the Felt,” you say and smirk as Spades’s spiny hands tighten around the railing.

Got him.

“What about the Felt?” he hisses, glaring out at the patrons of his casino.

“I thought you’d be interested in taking them down once and for all,” you offer.

“Bullshit,” Spades spits, whirling around to face you.

Dave takes another step forward and his hand slips into his cloak. You move to step in front of him, becoming a barricade between Dave and Spades.

“Dave, don’t,” you warn.

“I haven’t seen one of the green bastards in ages. Not since I ran Snowman out of this place,” Spades growls.

“And you think they’d go away like that, Spades?” you challenge. “I thought you were smarter than that.”

He hisses at you, displaying his sharp teeth in an attempt to intimidate you. There’s a knife in his hand now.

“I have it on good information that the Felt are all gathering in one place, including their leader Lord –“

“Don’t you fuckin’ say his name!” Spades snaps, eyes getting wide. “Don’t know how many of his fuckin’ ears are here right now. What do you want from me?”

“I want the whole crew,” you say.

Spades tosses his knife into the ground. It lodges itself a few centimeters from your foot. You don’t flinch.

“To do what exactly?”

“Come with me to the Empire and kill the Felt.”

“I hate you. I’ve always hated you,” he rants angrily.

Spades storms around the balcony for a few moments, tearing apart his furniture angrily. There’s a moment where you don’t think he’s going to accept. You prepare for his rage to be directed towards you.

“You’ve got yourself a fuckin’ deal,” Spades spits, voice filled with venom and self-hatred. “Can’t believe I had to rely on fuckin’ you to get my shot at the Felt.”

“Good, we’re leaving shortly. Collect your things and meet us in docking bag 41B,” you order.

“Don’t you get all high and mighty with me, Vantas. You came to me for help and I can take that away.”

You hiss at him before turning away and shoving the doors open. Clubs dances away from the door and back down the stairs. Diamonds is leaning a bit further down, his eyes still attached to Dave. He just watches the two of you as you descend.

Hearts shoves the doors open when you're back onto the main floor. You don’t acknowledge him as you re-enter the casino. The troll bartender is watching you through narrowed eyes.

“Let’s get out of here,” you mumble to Dave.

He nods and the two of you hurry out of the casino. The rushed walk back to the _Rogue_ is quiet. Neither of you speaking until the hull door has shut completely.

You fling off your cloak and shove Dave’s sword into his chest, but not letting go of it. He looks at you with wide, surprised eyes.

“What the fuck?” you demand, pressing him backwards.

His back hits against the wall of the _Rogue_ with a metallic bang. Dave doesn’t fight back, just pressing his hands against his blade’s sheath to keep it from crushing his fragile ribcage.

“What the fuck made you think it was a good idea to just leave me there?” you hiss.

Dave sighs and runs a hand through his hair. His face is sweating from the warm station air and causing it to stick to his forehead. It doesn’t look endearing at all. Absolutely not.

“Shit, I’m sorry,” he replies and he sounds apologetic. “It goes best when we usually split up to gather information.”

“I’m not your fucking usual crew,” you reply angrily. “I don’t even know what the bullshit currency of this place is!”

Dave’s eyebrows knit together.

“What the fuck – oh yeah Empire, I forgot.”

“You forgot I was raised in the Empire?” you explode. “Not even an hour ago, you were all pissed off because I lied about being part of it! Now you forget?”

“Look, I’m sorry for that. I wasn’t thinking straight,” Dave shoots back.

“Maybe if you’d actually fucking sleep, you’d be able to!” you argue.

“Fuck this, maybe I will,” Dave replies stubbornly and he violently shoves at the blade.

You stumble backwards and watch as Dave quickly scales up the ladder and into the main portion of the _Rogue._ Frustrated, you toss Dave’s sword off to the side and collapse into the space Dave just occupied. Why did your relationship with Dave turn into whatever the fuck this is?

On top of that, you just have to figure out how to keep Spades Slick entertained aboard the _Rogue_ so he doesn’t stab someone for fun.

* * *

 

Dealing with Spades and the rest of the Midnight Crew isn’t that difficult. Roxy wakes up before they arrive and shoos you to sleep in her cabin, saying as the captain it’s her job to deal with passengers. Roxy ends up gifting them the entire lower level of the _Rogue_ , bar the warp core which thankfully the Carapacians know enough not to fuck with it.

The four volatile members of the Midnight crew end up making themselves at home in the hull, creating a makeshift casino to play cards in. The only real problem is when one of them is accused of cheating or gets caught cheating. The rest of you manage to just ignore Spades and Hearts shouting at another.

The trip to the Empire is a long and quiet one, other than the rambunctious Carapacians. You manage to avoid Dave for the entirety of the trip. None of the humans bring it up but Kanaya tries on multiple occasions to try and get you to talk about it with her. As a defense, you pull Rose into a conversation, knowing that Kanaya can barely resist talking to her.

Mostly you sit with Feferi in the rec room, watching the stars zoom past. You both feel the heavy weight of leaving your friends. Neither of you have many words for each other, but each other’s presence alone is enough to cause some sort of comfort.

Still, the _Rogue_ cannot arrive fast enough.

* * *

 

“We’re here,” Kanaya murmurs from the entranceway of the rec room.

You open your eyes and sit up from the couch. You look out the window and see Alternia looming in the distance. The moon is even closer.

“Feferi has given Jade directions to a secret hangar. If we remain undetected, we should be docking in under 10 minutes.”

“We will remain undetected,” you tell her firmly as you stand up at face her. “The _Rogue_ is using Sollux’s stealth technology with a little extra edge that Dirk threw in.”

“I assume that you had a hand in giving them that technology?” Kanaya asks, raising an eyebrow.

“I wanted Dirk to like me,” you reply, feeling your face get hot. “He was the only one at the time who didn’t like me.”

“You do not need to rely on others’ approval to define your own self worth,” Kanaya reminds you and she reaches out to put a hand on your shoulder. “We’ve gone over this many times.”

“I know,” you reply, sighing heavily. “I just wanted to fit in.”

Kanaya gives you a small, warm smile. Her hand moves and strokes the back of your neck.

“Fitting in has never been something you excel at,” she reminds you fondly. “Be you, Karkat.”

You feebly attempt to free yourself from Kanaya, but enjoy her presence too much. Her hand slips away from your neck and you miss the comfort. Unease chews at your stomach. You’re afraid at what awaits you in the palace.

“Those of us on the ground team are gathering on the lower level,” Kanaya says. “Join us when you’re ready.”

Kanaya leaves you alone in the rec room and you turn back to the windows. The _Rogue_ is edging closer to the palace. How the _Rogue_ can even be this close without the sensors detecting it amazes you. At the same time, it makes your skin crawl that if there is one technical issue with the stealth system you were all dead.

Shoving the thought aside, you exit the rec room and head towards the cockpit. Jade is in the pilot’s seat, immense concentration on her face. John sits in Dave’s chair, but he’s not using it – he’s just staring forward. Roxy is standing behind John, her hands tightly gripping the chair. You plan on slipping out, but Roxy notices you and gives you a nervous smile.

“Lord English is scheduled to arrive in an hour,” she informs you. “Jake has already infiltrated the palace and is working on getting the communication systems down.”

“And you’ll be good here?” you ask.

“The _Rogue_ is small, but she can pack a powerful punch,” John says. “We can take Lord English.”

“Good,” you say.

“Watch out for everyone down there, Karkat,” Roxy tells you solemnly.

You nod. No one is getting killed on your watch.

“Good luck,” you offer the three of them before heading down to the hull.

The ground team is all there, prepping themselves.

“Here,” Kanaya says and hands you an old sword.

You take it with a scowl.

“The hangar is near the museum,” she informs you. “It’s only to defend yourself until then.”

You can’t help but smile as you think about smashing up the ridiculous museum and stealing back your sickles.

“I will be teaming up with Rose,” Kanaya also tells you. “Feferi will be leading the Midnight Crew, to help differentiate between those loyal to her. She does not trust them the way you do.”

“I don’t necessarily trust them,” you clarify. “I trust that they can get the job done.”

“I understand,” she says and then pauses. “Although that leaves you to be with Dave. The two of you will be heading to the prison to find our friends.”

“You planned this,” you accuse.

Kanaya gives you a coy smile.

“I was informed that the two of you sparred semi-frequently back on Skaia, it’s merely good tactics that the two of you should be on a team together,” she says serenely. “Seeing as you have a mutual understanding of each others’ physical abilities.”

“You’re devious, Kanaya,” you tell her.

“Devious is a key trait of a good tactician,” she says before returning to Rose.

You look to Dave across the hull. He’s sitting on one of the crates, blade across his knees. From an outsider’s point of view, he looks completely calm. But you can tell from the way his fingers dance across the blade’s edge and how his heel taps against the crate that he’s nervous. You don’t blame him. You’re pretty nervous too.

The _Rogue_ shudders and everyone in the hull is jerked to one side. For a moment you think that the stealth technology has gone offline. Roxy’s voice floats down from the cockpit to tell you otherwise. It was just the landing turbulence.

“We’re here, let’s get this show on the road!” she exclaims.

Rose is the one who opens the hull, but the Midnight Crew are the first out and blaze the trail for the rest of you. Feferi bounces out after them, gripping her trident tightly in her hands.

“Clear!” she calls back.

You, Rose, Kanaya, and Dave follow suit. The hangar is almost completely dark, except for a few emergency lights. You’ve never been to this part of the palace before.

Feferi and the Midnight Crew are already gone once your feet touch the palace ground. Both you and Kanaya walk forward, taking in your home again. It’s been so long since you’ve been at the palace, even if this is an area you’ve never been in.

“It’s for the Empress’ private vessel,” Kanaya explains. “This is where Feferi was escorted during the assassination attempt. The museum is down the right corridor, on the way to the prison.”

“Like the hangars we exploited during the rebellion,” you say.

“Exactly,” Kanaya agrees.

Dave and Rose are back at the _Rogue_ , shutting the hull. It takes off almost immediately after the door closes. The two humans hurry towards you.

“This is where we part ways then,” Rose says. “Be safe, both of you.”

“I trust that you remember the way to the prison?” Kanaya teases.

“I spent a fair bit of time there.” you reply.

Terezi liked to spend time in the prison, searching out any possible escape routes. Her nose is uncannily good at figuring them all out. She demanded that you, as the ‘least busy,’ help her out. Terezi is so close now that it makes your stomach clench painfully.

“Let’s get this show on the road then,” Dave says. “Let’s do our best and not die.”

“That is the plan, Dave,” Rose murmurs and turns to Kanaya. “Lead the way.”

Kanaya flickers white and illuminates the hangar. She gives you a brief, serious nod before she and Rose head down one of the corridors, exiting the hangar. You turn to look at Dave.

“I have something to do before go to the prison,” you say. “It’s on the way, don’t worry.”

You’re about to take off down the corridor to the museum when Dave grabs onto your shoulder.

“What the hell?” you hiss, yanking your shoulder free. “Now is not the time for your bullshit.”

Dave makes a noise of frustration and you can barely make out his face.

“And what if this is the only time for this?” he replies.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” you demand.

“I’m talking about us!”

“Now is _really_ not the time.”

“Let me get this off my chest and then we can be on our merry way. You’re only wasting our time by arguing with me.”

You huff angrily and cross your arms, waiting for Dave to get to this point. He removes his shades and you can make out his red eyes, even in the darkness

“Look, I was dumb. You were dumb. This whole fight between us is dumb. I like you. A lot. So I forgive you and all that bullshit,” despite his wording, Dave sounds completely sincere. “Can we be cool?”

You don’t respond with words and instead just kiss him. It’s brief and mostly just needy because you’ve missed kissing him. You’ve missed _Dave_ a lot.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Dave says, slightly out of breath.

“Let’s get a move on, we don’t have much time to waste,” you order and take off down the hallway.

Dave shoves his sunglasses on and follows behind you closely. It doesn’t take long before the corridors become familiar and you’re back in a part of the palace that you recognize. The lights are still mostly off, the power probably cut in the struggle between the Felt and those loyal to Feferi.

However, there is still power in the golden museum that displays the history of the Troll Empire. You hurry through the halls of the museum until you come across the display on the rebellion. Your sickles are displayed, crossed over each other, above a painting of yourself. You belatedly notice Dave taking in the displays around you with wonder. You’ve glared at them enough to be bored of them.

“I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time,” you growl gleefully.

You take the sword Kanaya gave you earlier and ram the hilt into the glass. It shatters downwards, glass raining around you. You toss the sword aside and scramble forward to collect your sickles. They’re cold to the touch, but the grooves on their handles still fit your hands perfectly. You flip them in your hands a few times, regaining a feel for your weapons.

“They spent far too long locked behind glass,” you tell Dave.

Dave walks over and picks up your discarded blade.

“This was one of my good swords,” he says but you just ignore him and his false theatrics.

You attach the sickles to your waist and they weigh perfectly. Your commissioned, ceremonial sickles, possibly still sitting in your quarters, never quite got the right weight. They always felt too heavy.

Dave does the same with the extra sword.

“Doesn’t hurt to have a second weapon along, especially with my luck of breaking them,” he says, shrugging when you give him a questioning look.

“Now we’re back in action,” you announce. “The prison is not too far from here.”

“What kind of planning is this place? Hangars hiding randomly, a whole fucking museum, and a prison that’s ‘not too far from here.’ I’m no architectural genius but I probably could’ve planned this bullshit palace better,” Dave complains as you make your way down the hallway. “I thought you said trolls were taught architecture at a young age?”

“The palace was designed by Beforan architects,” you explain. “Before self-sustenance was important to Alternian culture.”

“What does that even mean?” Dave asks.

“When this all done, you are getting a thorough lesson on troll history,” you sigh.

Dave takes a long time to respond and his eventual response doesn’t sit well with you. It’s far too simple, not enough of Dave’s back talk. You ignore the feeling and focus on the task at hand.

“Okay.”

You don’t reply, just continue to push forward through the palace. There hasn’t been anyone yet, which both worries you and is a relief. You don’t have to fight anyone, but that means the Felt are off somewhere else in the palace.

“I bet there all preparing for their boss’ arrival,” Dave wonders aloud, as if reading your thoughts.

“The hallways are still empty, as if no one has walked through them since I left,” you reply.

“This palace is fucking massive, I doubt that it’s full all the time,” Dave shoots back.

“It is. The hallways are always packed. It’s fucking annoying.”

Dave lets out a soft huff of laughter.

“Of course you’d think that,” he says.

You roll your eyes. You’re saved from thinking of a retort as you arrive at the end of the long hallway and thus the prison entrance.

“We’re here,” you announce, stopping in front of the massive metal doors.

You walk up to them and push. Thankfully they move and aren’t locked shut. Still, they are made of a very dense metal and you’ll require Dave’s help to open them.

“Get over here and help me push these open,” you call back to Dave.

His boots clump against the ground as he jogs up to the door. The two of you press against the metal door. It screeches against the ground, but you manage to open it enough to slip through.

You dart in, leaving Dave behind. You’re anxious to find your friends in the prison, which may take some time since it’s a maze that winds deeply into the palace. Some lights are on in the main room, revealing a figure hunched over in one of the front cells.

“Look for the keys in the desk!” you bark at Dave, who has just entered behind you.

You run over to the cell and press your hands against the bars. Terezi turns around to face you, her glasses missing and her own dried blood spattered on her face. You sigh in relief. She’s alive.

“Karkat?” she croaks, voice hoarse from either disuse or screaming.

It’s hard to tell with Terezi.

“I’m here – it’s going to be alright. Kanaya and Feferi are with me, we’re getting you out of here,” you say quickly. 

Terezi gets up quickly and darts towards the bars. Her hands grip around yours. She gives you a surprisingly tender grin.

“I knew you’d come,” she confides.

“Where are the others?” you ask. “Is everyone okay?”

“Further into the prison,” Terezi pauses and then cackles deviously. “I kept telling them how to escape so they brought me up here to keep a better eye on me. Everyone’s fine though.”

Dave tosses the keys at you. They hit you uselessly in the side of the head. You growl at him menacingly, but he just shrugs at you and leans against the desk. What is his problem now? You bend down to pick up the keys and start trying them on the door.

“Who’s that?” Terezi asks, head jerking Dave’s direction and sniffing.

“That’s –“ you begin but Terezi’s pleasant laughter cuts you off.

“Hey, Cool Kid,” she greets airily.

“What’s up, Tz?” Dave replies, sounding somewhat distance.

You freeze with your hands on the keys. Terezi and Dave know each other? You weren’t aware Dave knew any other trolls beside the one he had a relationship with. Oh. The other troll Dave had a relationship _was_ Terezi. She had spent a great deal of time traveling for Feferi after the rebellion. It makes sense. Embarrassed, you return to trying the keys on the door.

“Knew I recognized that smell,” Terezi muses and she leans through the bars to take a deep sniff of you. “You’re absolutely covered in it, Karkles.”

Terezi tosses her head backwards and laughs wildly. Even though she’s teasing you, you’ve missed her immensely. Still, your cheeks get hot.

“Got it,” you mumble as the door unlocks.

You pull the door open and Terezi launches herself at you, wrapping her sharp limbs around your body. She buries her head into your shoulder and inhales deeply. You grip her back just as tightly, afraid she might vanish if you let go.

“I missed your delicious candy red smell,” she informs you.

“And I missed your absolute insanity,” you reply.

Terezi lets go of you and turns to face Dave. She gives him a chilling grin and approaches him predatorily.

“Never thought I’d be smelling you again,” she tells him.

He shrugs casually but you can see the unease in his eyes.

“You’re covered in Karkat’s scent too,” she says; smile widening and displaying her sharp teeth.

“Shit happens,” he says.

Dave looks at you for aid. You smirk and shrug back at him.

“Karkat’s my best friend,” Terezi says and it feels really good to hear her say that. “And just because I was red for you, doesn’t mean I’m going to go easy on you if you break his heart.”

The prison gets really quiet as Terezi stares at Dave with her red eyes. He swallows audibly and nods.

“I’m blind!” she reminds him. “I can’t see when you nod.”

“Oh shit, yeah. I nodded.”

Terezi cackles once more and gives Dave a slap to the arm.

“I’ll take you to the others,” she says. “Follow me.”

“Give Terezi your extra sword,” you instruct Dave.

With little hesitation, he gives her the blade. Dave winces, but doesn’t say anything, as Terezi drops one end to the ground and starts using it as a cane. She takes off down the prison hallway, further into the maze. You and Dave follow after her.

“So you and Terezi,” you say casually.

“I didn’t know you knew her,” Dave replies helplessly.

“You’re lucky I like you now or I would have ripped you to shreds because you broke up with her,” you say, giving Dave sharp grin.

“She did that well enough herself,” Dave says distantly.

You feel kind of bad for Dave in that moment. From what you know, he really liked Terezi and her having a secret blackrom relationship actually hurt him. Terezi probably really liked Dave too; he was her type after all. It probably hurt her a lot when he broke their matespritship up as well.

“Sorry,” you mumble.

“It’s fine,” Dave replies honestly. “It’s been years and I’m over that shit. She’s still got her hate boyfriend right?”

You stop walking and Dave turns to look at you, concern written on his face.

“I should talk to Terezi about that,” you reply quickly and hurry to catch up to Terezi.

She’s staring upwards, following her nose and her makeshift cane. She turns to grin at you when you arrive beside her.

“You got to sent to Skaia?” she asks. “It’s a nice planet.”

“Yeah,” you reply. “But we can talk about that afterwards? I just want to ask if you’re okay.”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” she gives you a confused look.

“I saw the broadcast with Gamzee,” you say uneasily.

Terezi scowls deeply.

“He’s dead when I get my hands on him,” she hisses.

“I’m not doubting that, but are you okay about it?”

“I thought you might be happy it’s over,” Terezi replies bitterly.

“I wasn’t exactly happy when it came out, but I’m still your friend,” you shoot back.

Terezi sighs and slumps forward a bit. She looks so tired and weak. How long has she spent in that cell alone?

“It’s fine,” she says, straightening up. “He wasn’t good for me anyway.”

“He’s a fucking piece of shit,” you agree.

Terezi laughs a bit at that.

“I should’ve known that if you ever met Dave you’d fall for him,” she teases, switching the subject.

“Shut up,” you reply hotly. “I did not ‘fall for him.’ He’s an annoying asshole.”

“An annoying asshole who can hear you,” Dave calls from behind you.

You scowl at him and Dave merely gives you that lopsided smile of his. That’s when you notice a blinking light from his wrist.

“What’s that?” you ask.

“It’s my communicator,” Dave says and stops to stare at it. “Shouldn’t be going off like this. This means Jake hasn’t gotten communications down.”

You grab Terezi’s shoulder so she stops walking ahead. You lead her over to Dave, who is glaring at his wrist. He presses the center of it and brings the communicator up to his mouth.

“This is Dave, I thought we agreed on radio silence?” he says, annoyed.

“I got someone one!” Jade’s voice cuts in, sounding highly relieved. “We have an issue.”

Her voice is heavily distorted by static and distant.

“Other than the communcation systems not being down?” Dave mutters.

“I got Jake to bring them up temporarily,” Jade says, voice strained. “We were unable to take down Lord English’s ship.”

“What?!” you and Dave exclaim together.

“We didn’t account for his shields to be as strong as they were and with the _Rogue’_ s power diverted to the stealth system, we were unable to take him down,” Jade explains.

There’s rustling from Jade’s end and suddenly Roxy cuts in.

“His ship is making its way to the main hangar. You have to get there immediately and catch him off guard. Got it?” she orders harshly.

“What about you?” Dave asks tensely, running his hand through his hair.

“We’re currently fighting off some of his lackey ships,” Roxy explains. “We’ll get into the fight as soon as we can.”

“And the others on the ground team?” you ask, grabbing Dave’s wrist and bringing the communicator towards you.

“I’m trying my best to work with Jake and get their attention,” Jade says. “Don’t worry about that – just get to the hangar as soon as you can!”

The communication halts abruptly and Dave’s communicator stops blinking. You shove his arm away in anger.

“Shit,” Dave curses. “We need to get to that hangar. We don’t have time to get your friends if we want to cut Lord English off.”

“I’ll get them,” Terezi suggests. “I’ll get them out and raid the armory. Lord English won’t know what hit him!”

“Are you sure?” Dave asks.

“She knows the ins and outs of the prison like no one else,” you tell Dave.

“A good legislacerator should know every part of the legal system,” Terezi says grinning mischievously.

“We’re wasting time here, we need to go,” you says, shoving Dave’s shoulder. “We’ll meet in the hangar, Terezi.”

She nods and takes off down the hallway, her makeshift cane dragging on the hard floor behind her.

“Lead the way,” Dave says.

You run off in the direction you just came from, to the exit of the prison. There is a fair bit of ground you covered from the main room of the prison, but you make it back with little effort. You slip through the door and back into the main hallway and wait for Dave before running off in the direction of the main hangar.

It’s a fair distance away from the prison and you keep it in the back of your mind to not waste all your energy before making it to the hangar. You wouldn’t be much use taking down Lord English if you are exhausted before you even arrived. Sickles are very physical weapons after all.

The only comfort that you are not alone is Dave’s boots clumping on the floor. He follows behind you, easily keeping up with your pace as you make your way through the halls of the palace. The closer you get to the hangar the more lights are turned on, which means that the Felt is indeed preparing for Lord English’s arrival.

The hallway from the prison merges into a much larger one that could take you to the main corridor and from there, the throne room. Fortunately, you don’t have to pass through the main corridor to get the hangar. The hallway you just entered will eventually open up into it.

You pick up the pace, running even quicker to beat Lord English’s ship to landing. The hangar entrance is within your sight in a few tense minutes. However, just as you are about to tear into hangar, Dave grabs your shoulder, pulling you backwards and off to the side. You hit the wall with a soft ‘thump.’

“What the hell?” you demand quietly.

“You can’t just go running in there!” Dave whispers furiously. “We have no idea what’s in there. You’re lucky no one saw you about to just charge in!”

You scowl but Dave has a point. Dave leans forward and peers around the entrance and into the hangar. He quickly pulls back and looks at you, smirking a little bit.

“Wait here,” he instructs and suddenly darts around the corner and into the hangar.

Your first impulse is to yell after him, but you forcibly shove away the urge. Shuffling to where Dave had just stood, you peer into the hangar. There are a series of crates lying around, having meant to be shipped months ago before the assassination attempt. Three members of the Felt are standing by an empty docking station, clearly waiting for Lord English.

Dave gives you a thumbs up and begins to creep forwards towards one of the members of the Felt. You frown at him but continue watching. Does he mean to take them all by himself? He slips behinds crates, and is eventually hidden behind one that a member of the Felt is directly standing in front of.

“Now!” Dave shouts and launches himself over the crate. 

He pulls his blade out, quickly stabbing it through the green leprechaun. The body falls to the floor and the other two members immediately turn on Dave. You’re about to grab your sickles and jump out to defend him, but two shots ring out in quick succession. The remaining two members of the Felt join the other, dead bodies dropping to the ground. You pull backwards and hide behind the wall, unaware of where the shots came from.

“Help me clean this up!” Dave calls out to you. “It’s just Rose.”

You step out and look around for the source of the shots.

“Up here!” Rose says from above.

You look up to see Rose perched on a balcony overlooking the hangar. Kanaya stands at her side. You huff and turn to go help Dave remove the bodies. There isn’t a lot of time before Lord English’s ship docks.

The two of you grab one body each and begin moving them behind a crate further back in the hangar. Kanaya leaps down from the balcony to grab the third and tosses it with relative ease to the hiding spot.

“Let’s ambush this fucker,” Dave says and starts looking around for appropriate hiding spots. “Rose will start the attack, she knows when it’s a good time to attack. Her shots mean it’s go time.”

You look up at Rose but she’s already hidden somewhere on the balcony with her rifle. You trust her to make the right call. The three of you end up taking crates all fairly close to the docking station and with a view of each other. You pull the sickles free from your belt and grip them tightly in your hands, ready to attack.

The next few minutes are tense as all of you wait for Lord English’s ship to arrive.

It happens unceremoniously, the hangar hisses open at the far right and the energy field that keeps the airless space environment from the palace’s livable air hums to life in an instant. You adjust your grip on your sickles to keep yourself for peering over the crate. All you can hear is the ship’s landing gear grind down onto the hangar floor. With a final creak, you know the ship has come to a complete halt.

The door opens with a nosy screech and soon there is the pattering of soft leprechaun feet on the hangar floor. There is a lot of shuffling of feet and you start to get anxious. The longer Rose waits, the more there will be ready to fight

Everything kicks off with a literal bang. Rose starts firing and you can hear the bodies hitting the floor. You watch Kanaya and Dave leap over their crates, Dave’s blade poised to strike and Kanaya’s chainsaw yammering loudly. You’re frozen behind your hiding spot, unable to move, to fight, and to do anything.

You make a noise of frustration. This happened during the rebellion numerous times as well. As soon as the real fight was presented, you just froze. You can hear Dave and Kanaya fighting with the members of the Felt and Rose’s gunshots ringing throughout the hangar.

It takes of all of your willpower, but you force yourself to peer behind your hiding spot. Kanaya and Dave are absolutely surrounded by leprechauns. Their faces reflect extreme intensity as they stand back to back with each other, slashing at the leprechauns. The Felt seems endless, now pouring out of Lord English’s absolutely _massive_ ship. You need to do something before Kanaya and Dave are completely overrun.

You tighten your hold on your sickles and amp yourself up to jump out of your crate when you hear shouting from the entrance of the hangar. You whirl around and see your friends. All of them look haggard and tired, but their fighting spirits burn brightly as they glare at the leprechauns. Their arrival spurs you into action and you leap towards Kanaya and Dave, slashing at the Felt with your sickles.

“And I thought you were all talk!” Dave says, grinning at you.

“He takes sometime to gear up for battle,” Kanaya replies primly, hacking away with her chainsaw.

The two of them quickly arrange themselves around you so that all your backs face each other. Some of the Felt pouring out of the ship divert towards your friends, which takes the heat off of your group. The hangar is quickly filled with the noise of fighting. Leprechauns are more of a hassle than anything, not posing too much of a lethal threat. They still wield their weapons well enough to poke a few holes if you don’t pay attention however.  

There’s a savage roar from inside the ship and you’re reminded that you’re all waiting for the kingpin of the Felt. The entire hangar goes still and everyone turns to face the massive ship. A slight hissing sound comes from the engine of the ship – the _Rogue_ managed to damage it after all. Dave looks up at Rose and gets a grim look on his face. You see Rose change her target from a leprechaun to the ship.

“Take cover!” he shouts and grabs you, yanking you behind a crate.

Kanaya leaps at the same time as you hear Rose take the shot. The other trolls scatter to hide behind various crates. The leprechauns remain frozen by the feral call of their leader.

There’s a massive explosion as Rose’s shot hits its mark. You and Dave tuck downwards and behind the crate, but there is little escape from the heat of the blast.

After the explosion, everything seems to momentarily halt. There is the sound of crackling fire and the heavy scent of burnt fabric. You’re about to ask if it’s over when a booming roar fills the hangar. It rattles you to the core. You look at Dave and he scowls deeply. He must have thought the explosion would have killed Lord English.

The two of you peer around the crate and see a massive cherub emerging from the wreckage. Most of his clothes are on fire or charred to his dark green skin. His eyes flash a myriad of colours as he sweeps around the hangar. His eyes settle on the charred remains of his lackeys. Lord English lets out another roar of anger.

“He’s distracted, I’m going in,” Dave tells you.

“Are you an idiot?” you demand, grabbing his arm. “He’s huge!”

“But I’m fast and all it take is one well placed blow,” he explains. “I got this, Karkat. Trust me.”

You meet Dave’s serious red eyes. You release his arm.

“I do.”

Dave nods and in the blink of an eye he’s leaping over the crate. Although Dave is fast and doesn’t make a sound, Lord English still catches him. A massive arm swings at Dave, knocking him off to the side. You watch in horror as Dave goes flying like a rag doll across the hangar. When Dave hits the ground, he drops his blade and is slides out of his reach.

For a moment nothing happens. You hold your breath and just watch. If Dave couldn’t get a hit on Lord English, there is no way you could even hope to. You look over helplessly at Kanaya and she gives you a sorry look. Rose shoots a few more times but her bullets only seem to annoy Lord English.

He bellows again and starts to march over to Dave’s prone body. You hiss angrily, feeling so useless and only able to watch Lord English on his way to kill Dave. He gets closer and closer, brandishing his claws as he lurches towards Dave.

Suddenly the _Rogue_ comes roaring into the hangar. It lands abruptly in the smoking wreckage of Lord English’s ship and the remaining members leap outwards. Dirk yells loudly seeing Dave’s body and leaps to action, running after Lord English.

The cherub turns to face Dirk and lifts his massive arm to sweep Dirk aside as easily he did Dave. The movement happens so quickly but with far less force from distraction. As Dirk’s body goes flying, you watch as a golden trident flies through the air and lodges itself in Lord English’s chest. The massive cherub stumbles backwards in pain. Everyone turns to face the source.

“This is my Empire!” Feferi shouts and she’s standing at the entrance of the hangar, the Midnight Crew flanking her.

All five of them are covered in leprechaun blood. Feferi is scowling deeply. A rumble resonates deeply in Lord English’s chest as he turns to face her. Blood pours from the wound but still he seems unfazed by injury. Lord English grabs the trident with one hand and tosses it aside.

“I’ve had enough of your glubbing shenanigans!” she yells.

“This Empire belongs to me!” Lord English roars. “It has always belonged to me, long before you were even born!”

“This Empire belongs to its people,” Feferi announces boldly and she’s holding her ground well for someone whose weapon was just tossed aside. “And those people are going to take it back.”

You glance to check on Dave but notice that his body is no longer there. Neither is his sword. There’s a massive shriek of pain and you turn back to look at Lord English. A sword is sticking through his neck. His colourful eyes dim considerably.

Dave gives it one powerful stroke and separates Lord English’s head from his body. Dave collapses backwards in pain and just narrowly avoids being crushed by Lord English’s humongous body.

Tossing your sickles aside, you leap from your hiding spot to make it Dave. You drop beside his body and examine it for signs of life. Kanaya is quick to join you and hovers over your shoulder while you try to wake Dave up. 

“Wake up asshole!” you growl, shoving at his shoulders.

His eyes flutter open and he grins tiredly at you.

“Is that anyway to talk to the guy who just killed Lord English?” he asks.

“You’re a fucking idiot,” you tell him.

“Who just saved your Empire. You’re welcome,” Dave murmurs and his eyes flutter shut.

Dirk lands on Dave’s other side. The hit he took from Lord English seems significantly less than the one Dave took. Dirk lightly slaps Dave’s cheeks.

“Hey you need to stay awake,” Dirk warns. “You might have a concussion.”

“I think I deserve a bit of nap,” Dave mumbles, opening his eyes to scowl at Dirk.

“You can nap all you like once we get your head checked out, little man,” Dirk replies fondly and runs his hand through Dave’s hair.

“Don’t call me that,” Dave replies, slurring his words a bit and swatting at Dirk’s hand.

Dirk chuckles and then turns to look at you.

“Is there some place we can lie him down? Like an infirmary?” he asks.

“Yeah,” you say. “It’s a bit of a walk.”

“That should be no problem,” Dirk says and he hoists Dave upwards. “He’s always been pretty light.”

“I just need to do a few things before we go,” you tell Dirk. “Just wait for me by the entranceway.”

He nods and carries Dave off with him. You look to Feferi who is worriedly checking over all of your friends. Kanaya puts a hand on your shoulder and you smile up at her.

“They’re all okay,” you tell her but it’s more of a verbal recognition of reality.

She hums pleasantly and the two of you hurry over towards your friends. Feferi is currently fussing over Eridan. He’s trying to wave her off, saying that she has better things to do than worry over him. You catch sight of his arm wound, it’s not a good colour but with a proper care, it should be better in no time.

“We need to be makin’ an announcement to the Empire, tellin’ them that it’s been restored to order,” Eridan protests.

“That can wait!” Feferi huffs. “Let me look at your arm!”

Eridan jerks his arm out of her reach and winces from the pain.

“That’s what you get for being difficult!” she snaps, pursing her lips and putting her hands on her hips.

“Kar, tell Fef that there are more important things than fussin’ over me,” Eridan says, scowling.

“Feferi, I think everyone should get to the infirmary and you should round up the doctors,” you say. “They all need medical attention. You’re an Empress, not a doctor.”

Feferi chews her lip thoughtfully.

“The Empire needs to be informed,” Kanaya reminds her. “The people should know that you’re alive.”

“Eridan will still be safe when you finish your work,” you tell her.

Eridan scowls at you.

“She shouldn’t be worried about me,” he replies snappishly.

“Where’s the Eridan who only wanted attention from Feferi?” you tease.

“I can have you arrested for treason, Kar,” Eridan threatens.

“That would make you even more popular,” you reply sarcastically.

Feferi and Kanaya laugh when Eridan turns a deep violet.

“Let’s go to the infirmary,” you tell him. “Kanaya and Feferi will deal with the Empire business. Go get the others moving in that direction.

Eridan nods in agreement and immediately starts shouting orders out at the other trolls. They complain at him, but are too tired to really do anything other than begin their shuffle to the infirmary.

“I will get medical help there soon,” Feferi promises, sighing deeply. “Then go to work restoring the Empire. Again.”

“And I will focus on getting the news out to the people,” Kanaya says.

“I’ll join you when I’m finished up here,” you tell her.

Kanaya nods in agreement before she and Feferi both take their leave. You return to Dirk where the other members of the _Rogue_ have now gathered, including Rose from her perch.

“Sorry about the late arrival,” Roxy is saying as you walk up. “Took a bit longer than expected to lose the Lord’s lackeys.”

“We managed just fine,” Rose assures her. “Anyways, we are alive and Lord English is dead. That’s all that matters now.”

“Skaia is safe,” you agree.

All of the humans smile at you for saying that. You can’t help but smile back. You feel at home with them.

* * *

 

There is a lot of work to do with Feferi and Kanaya. But you cleaned up the Empire once after thousands of years of subjugation, what’s a couple of months? 

It doesn’t take long before the palace is back on full power and bustling with trolls again. Soon enough, it will be secured and the Empire can begin to return to its daily routine. Some of the your friends, after their incarceration, return to full strength faster than others. Terezi and Vriska are back up within a few days and gone soon after that, on a mission from Feferi to bring Gamzee to justice. Eridan, on the hand, has a deeply infected wound on his arm. He’s going to spend quite a bit longer bedridden and fighting off the infection.

The Midnight Crew slipped off shortly after the death of Lord English. The cherub’s body also went missing, but you don’t want to think about their involvement in that. If you return to the _Furthest Ring_ casino, you might just find English’s head mounted on a wall. You suppose you and Spades are even now. You probably won’t hear from him again or even cross paths. The two of you have always run completely separate courses.

The first night back in your quarters is somewhat odd. Slipping into the sopor after so many weeks of sleeping in a bed is unfamiliar. You almost miss wrapping the blankets around yourself each night. The nightmares are not something you miss however. It’s better this way, since every moment you are awake, you are plagued with worries about Dave.

The other members of the _Rogue of Void_ have temporarily taken up residence in the guest wing of the palace. It makes your transition back into the dignitary life somewhat easier, seeing their faces amongst the crowd. You can tell they are also getting antsy with Dave’s recovery. He has spent most of his time bedridden since the fight with Lord English, having taking quite the hit. Dave suffered a concussion, a fractured arm in multiple places, and several broken ribs.

Roxy and Dirk in particular want to return back to Skaia to see Jane and celebrate over the relief of their home being safe. It hurts you that they are so eager to leave and you’re not really sure what you’re going to do once they’re gone. The humans are your friends and to some extent your home, but your friends and the palace are your home too. The only reason the humans are staying this long is because of you and wanting to see your home restored as much as theirs.

Being busy fixing up the Empire, you are unable to see Dave as much as you would like. After your duties for the day are finished, Dave is often already asleep. Rose informs you that his recovery is swift and (unfortunately) he is still as much as a smart ass as he was before the concussion.

It’s only when Kanaya grows impatient with you one day that she forcibly sends you to see Dave.

“Are you sure?” you ask carefully.

“I am tired of having you buzz about here impatiently,” she replies curtly. “I cannot get my work done. Just go see him already.”

Okay, so you’ve been spending a lot of time trying to rush your work so you can catch Dave before he’s asleep. Today, you and Kanaya are putting together letters, inviting dignitaries of other species to return to the palace.

“Thank you, Kanaya!” you say and tear out of your shared office.

You hurry towards the guest wing where the humans are currently being housed. Most of them won’t be here during the day as you’ve been told Jake’s been helping them take advantage of the palace’s supplies. Upgrades to the _Rogue_ can never wait.

However, Dave is in the wing. He’s lying on one of the couches of the sitting room, reading a book on troll history. This makes you laugh. Dave sets the book down when he hears you and peers at you over his shades. How they weren’t damaged in the fight is a mystery to you.

“I was beginning to think you were avoiding me,” he greets.

“I have a lot of jobs to do here,” you inform him and sit on the couch beside him.

“I see you’re wearing your fancy robes,” he observes. “They’re lined with grey. I thought trolls did the whole blood colour thing?”

“Mutants aren’t openly accepted in the Empire,” you tell him. “I had all my clothing made to hide my blood colour.”

Dave frowns slightly at that.

“How are you?” you ask. “Rose says you’ve been healing well.”

Dave waves his cast at you.

“Won’t be wielding a sword anytime soon, but I’m not dead so I can’t complain,” he remarks.

“I’d take a few broken bones over death any day,” you agree.

The two of you fall silent and it’s somewhat awkward. What do you do now? Soon Dave will be leaving for Skaia and you must remain at the palace, both because you’re needed and want to. This is like back on Skaia, except the reality is much more imminent.

“It’s weird,” Dave comments. “I never thought I’d be the hero. It was always Dirk and John and the others doing all the crazy heroic shit. I was just along for the ride. Never really thought I’d be responsible for saving an entire empire.”

“I find it helps if you think of it on a smaller scale. You saved your friends,” you explain. “After the rebellion, it was overwhelming to think that there was so much responsibility in my hands. It’s better now, but sometimes it helps to just take it down a peg. It will also keep your already large ego in check.”

“Hey!” Dave replies defensively.

You bump his shoulder playfully. The two of you fall back into silence. Dave plays with his hands a little bit and you just watch. You spent so much time thinking about Dave while working and now that you’re actually with him – it’s far too difficult to even talk to him.

“When are you planning on returning to Skaia?” you question.

“As soon as Dirk and John are done the repairs to the _Rogue_ ,” Dave answers. “It took some damage when making the emergency landing. Jake’s really helping them getting some better parts instead of the shit found on Skaia though. I wish I could help with the repairs, but my arm prevents me from doing anything useful.”

You bite your lip. Dave wants to leave. The silence falls again and Dave begins to nervously play with the edges of your robe, running the coarse fabric across his fingers.

“I’ve been thinking a lot about what’s going to happen now,” Dave finally admits. “I don’t think it will work.”

“Neither do I,” you reply, surprising yourself at your own response.

“Cool,” Dave says distantly. “It’s just – I don’t belong here. Even if I tried, I don’t think I could actually fit in with the lifestyle here.”

“You have a duty to the your people on Skaia,” you point out and goddamnit you’re _rationalizing this_.

“Exactly!” Dave agrees. “And you can’t exactly leave the Empire, you’re far too important to let go. You could barely get any time to come see me.”

“That’s true,” you murmur dully.

Dave swallows audibly. You’re not even sure why you’re going along with Dave’s idea. You stand up and Dave catches your hand.

“Where are you going?” he asks.

“I forget that there is an important thing I had to discuss with Kanaya,” you lie poorly.

“Oh,” he says, slumping backwards.

This is your fucking fault, Strider. With his stupid defense mechanism of pushing people away before they get too close.

“You’ll come say goodbye?” he asks hopefully.

You nod stiffly and stride out of the room. Maybe you really should go see Kanaya; you’ll have to inform her about this sooner or later. But for right now, you just want to be alone.

* * *

 

You see the _Rogue of Void_ and her crew off two days later. Feferi gives them a real imperial departure, with music and the majority of the palace’s inhabitants bidding them farewell. The ceremony is impersonal and you spend it standing off to the side with Kanaya and other important figures in the Empire. It doesn’t really matter since you said your real goodbyes the night previous.

The humans, with the exception of Dirk because he’s not really into that and Dave because the two of you are kind of awkward now that you’ve broken up, all gave you tight hugs. Jade cried and told she was going to miss you a lot. Roxy gave a sweeping declaration that you’re welcome on Skaia at anytime. She even suggested that you should visit next time Jake makes the trip over – Jake who has much more free time now as a newly high ranked pilot in the Imperial Fleet.

You and Dave just sort of danced around each other, offering each other quiet goodbyes. The other humans were vastly confused over the exchange, but didn’t comment. You spent the rest of the night angry with yourself for going along with Dave’s bullshit. When did you start to just go along with his stupidity instead of fighting it?

During the ceremony you catch Dave looking at you. Even though he’s wearing his shades, you know he’s watching you. When you catch him, he quickly turns away and back at Feferi who is addressing them fondly as heroes and friends of the Empire.

Finally, the six humans board the _Rogue_ and take off to return to their home on Skaia.

And you’re left behind, wondering if you’ll ever see them again.

* * *

  **SEVERAL MONTHS LATER**

* * *

There’s a soft knock at your office door. You turn from your desk, the movement more painful than you thought. Maybe you shouldn’t be crunching yourself over your desk for so many hours.

“I don’t really have time for any solicitations,” you grumble as you face the newcomer.

The next sharp word dies on your lip as you see Jake standing in the doorway. He’s dressed primly in his Imperial Captain’s uniform, lined with emerald. Normally when you see him, Jake is standing tall and proud. With the _Rogue’_ s part in restoring the Empire, Skaia and the Empire now have stronger ties to each. Jake is completely in charge of relations between the two planets, making him a very important person. It makes him incredibly happy to be servicing his people even off of Skaia.

Right now, however, Jake appears nervous. His shoulders are hunched in and his hands are playing with a box.

“Hello, old friend,” Jake greets, smiling warily.

You slowly nod in recognition. Since the _Rogue_ left several months ago, you and Jake haven’t spoken much. The two of you just went about existence as if your time on Skaia didn’t happen at all. You are somewhat grateful for the mutual ignorance, since thinking about Skaia makes your chest ache.

“I have just returned from Skaia and well, here,” Jake says and thrusts the box forward.

You rise from your seat and stride across the room to collect the box. This is unexpected.

“Who’s it from?” you ask.

“Jane,” Jake informs you. “She was clearing out your room and thought you might want this back.”

He scratches the back of his head nervously and the gesture reminds you too much of Dave. For a moment you want to give him back the present and kick him out of your office. Curiosity gets the best of you, however, and you open it up.

Inside if the robe that Jade and Dave got you for the festival. You scowl deeply at it, like it’s the source of all your problems.

“I take it you’re not exactly pleased to be receiving it,” Jake says, frowning.

“I’ve been trying to put Skaia out of my mind,” you admit, voice flat.

“Ah, the old Strider conudrum,” Jake says, nodding. “If I had a credit for every hoop Mr. Strider has put me through. Although it’s a different one, I have to say the two of them are remarkably similar when it comes to emotional capacity.”

“Probably has to do with the fact that they raised each other,” you tell him as you return to your desk.

You set the box down carefully, shutting the top again. You’ll look at this sometime later. Deal with your fucked up emotions on another date.

“Don’t take it to heart,” Jake continues. “Dave’ll come around. I didn’t get to see him on Skaia, but I’m thinking he might be a tad guilty for what he’s done. He sure does like to push the people he cares about away.”

“Jade told me something similar once,” you sigh.

“We do come from the same line of genetics,” Jake chuckles.

“Karkat, I – oh am I interrupting?” Kanaya says, halting in the doorway behind Jake.

“Oh, I forgot,” you reply, crinkling your noise in annoyance. “There’s a council meeting starting soon, Jake. Thank you for bringing me Jane’s package.”

“Anytime, chap!” Jake tells you cheerfully. “I’ll be in the main hangar if ever just want to stop by for a small chat. Maybe even a scrum? Dirk was telling me you and Dave did that plenty on Skaia. I haven’t been getting as much time in to wrestle as I would like with my promotion.”

“Thanks for the offer, Jake, but I’ll have to pass on the wrestling,” you inform him because there is nothing you want less than to spend more time with Jake and be reminded of Skaia.

“Alrighty then, I’m off!”

Jake gives you a nod and spins around to leave the room. He gives Kanaya a chivalrous greeting before completely vanishing.

“What was that about?” Kanaya questions curiously, her eyebrows rising upwards.

“Jake was returning something I left on Skaia,” you explain. “I’ll show you later or we’ll be late for the meeting.”

You move to meet Kanaya at the door and put out your elbow for her to take.

“Feferi seemed rather agitated when I spoke to her about it earlier,” Kanaya says, accepting your arm. “It appears Vriska will be at the meeting.”

“Oh great,” you say, sighing loudly. “That means it’s going to double in length.”

“She sure does like to hear herself talk,” Kanaya laughs.

The two of you head down the hallway and towards the council chambers. You leave the box on your desk and shove all thoughts of Skaia and Jake, and especially of Dave, to the back of your mind.

The Empire requires your utmost attention, even if it’s just going to be Vriska blathering for far too long.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual direct any questions on the fic or my writing to my [tumblr. ](http://pyyrrhanikos.tumblr.com) As well here's the link to the [ World Building page. ](http://pyyrrhanikos.tumblr.com/projectut) It also has some details on the future of the series. 
> 
> Follow me on 'jjanecrocker' (my main blog) or 'tinyjane' (my hs blog)
> 
>  
> 
> **On the Next Part:**
> 
>  
> 
> The next piece’s working titled is called “There’s No Escape from Home (the Case of John Egbert)” and serves to link Uncharted Territory to the next major story instalment, Mapping the Stars. As the title may imply, the star of it is the humans on Skaia. Since at the end of UT, we get to know what Karkat is doing in his time apart and Mapping the Stars will directly open into the meeting that he and Kanaya are attending, but there is a huge gap as to what the humans are up to. This bridge will give deeper insight to the relationship of the humans, particularly that of John, Jane, and Roxy. 
> 
> I hope you stick around for the future of the series, but ultimately I'm super happy that you stuck around for this one!
> 
> Bye for now! :)
> 
>  **Edit:** in light of today's update (June 28/15) where Dave finally talks about his relationship with Bro, I'm kind of annoyed at myself for including the 'hero' line that Dave has. Since it's now clear exactly why Dave didn't want to be a hero. I'm still going to keep it, but I generally dislike putting things in my fics that are going to be disproven by canon.

**Author's Note:**

> Please visit me on tumblr as [isaaclehigh ](http://isaaclehigh.tumblr.com) if you have any questions on the world state or my writing! My main blog is [jjanecrocker ](http://jjanecrocker.tumblr.com) , if you want to scream at me about fandoms in general but there's also my hs blog 'tinyjane'. I set up a page on [isaaclehigh (project UT) ](http://pyyrrhanikos.tumblr.com/projectut) that discusses the world state of the fic in a bit more detail, since I'm planning on creating a series within this world.
> 
> I edit myself, so if you spot any mistakes please let me know! **Edit:** I recently acquired the _Paradox Space_ physical copy and it made me realize that I've been spelling "carapacian" wrong! I've gone through and fixed that all!!
> 
> Thanks for reading <3


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